By Natasha Lomas, 6 January 2009 11:27
NEWS
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has earmarked £18bn for investment to help UK Plc get through the economic downturn - and with only around £1bn spent so far there's still plenty of cash on the table. Speaking in an interview with The Observer, Brown revealed "digital infrastructure" is one area he's looking to invest in. But what are his options? Here silicon.com looks at five tech investments that could help the UK weather the economic storm - and sail out the other side
1 - Switch on next generation broadband
Much head-scratching has been undertaken by politicians, analysts and industry suits about the issue of next generation broadband infrastructure in the UK, with our creaking copper wires having given us a laggard's reputation in the global broadband speed stakes.
Luckily, there are several solutions out there - which range from being very expensive to very, very, very expensive - which explains the private sector's reluctance to put its hand in its pocket and start ripping and replacing.
That said, last summer telco BT announced it will invest £1.5bn in deploying fibre to 10 million homes by 2010. But that still leaves plenty of UK households facing a fibreless future.
The government advisory group on broadband - the BSG - estimates the cost of a partial fibre deployment, taking superfast lines to the curbside cabinets, would cost an affordable £5.1bn.
The cost of a full fibre to the home deployment is still probably too steep for this fiscal stimulus - estimated at £28.8bn. That said, if the government were to commit a section of that sum, the private sector may be persuaded to add its own cash to the mix and the magic figure of £28.8bn may not be so unattainable after all.
Alternatively, the government could go for the budget FTTC option and then spend extra on next-gen wireless technologies to cover the last mile. This patchwork compromise of wired and wireless techs was recommended by a government-commissioned independent report into next-gen broadband in the UK.
As well as future proofing our national digital infrastructure, superfast broadband would also be able to give other next-gen technologies a leg up - for instance, smart metering could piggyback on the infrastructure.
2 - Create a nation of techies
Skills shortages are a perennial issue for the UK IT sector - getting enough of the right skills seems to be a problem for many employers - which all too often are reluctant to help themselves by investing in training.
Recognising the importance of attracting new blood to the tech industry, the government gave the green light for a National Skills Academy for IT last year. The Academy's aims are on the modest side, however: it hopes to train 10,000 people in the first three years of operation.
Considering sector skills body e-skills UK calculates that more than 140,000 new IT and telecoms professionals are needed every year to meet the UK's demands, 3,333 new bodies annually is not even close to being enough. The Academy is being funded by £8m of government money, matched by the same level of private investment - so think how many more techies could be trained by a government investment of even a small portion of Brown's £17bn.
If the UK is to transform itself into a knowledge economy, tech skills are going to be essential, and are already increasingly a component of more and more jobs. Moreover as the downturn bites, and more people from other industry sectors are made redundant, reskilling and upskilling these workers to invest in a future tech workforce would surely be money well spent.
3 - Become a VC
People don't stop having ideas in a downturn but the cash they need to get their start-ups off the ground dries up. That's where the government could step in to help, with measures such as tax breaks for UK-based tech start-ups, and grants supporting tech R&D work conducted on Blighty's soil.
The government is already seeking to establish a series of University Enterprise Networks in the hopes of nurturing homegrown entrepreneurs but hard cash is what's really needed to boost tech innovation and create the long term wealth associated with it - as seen in Silicon Valley.
Using the £17bn pot as a VC fund available for UK-based start-ups and entrepreneurs to bid for could be the radical move needed to encourage tech innovation.
The PM could then...
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Comments
There are 8 comments. Join the discussion
1. Karen Challinor
he could use it to offset some of the debt he saddled us with, with his ill advised VAT rate cut
2. Chris Goodman
Perhaps he shou;d tell us where he intends to get this money from? By just printing it he is devaluing our currency, our savings and our standing as a nation. He is an economic failure - where is our gold reserve? Sold at giveaway prices!
3. misceng
Perhaps before pressing on with IT training the Government could ensure that those entering IT could read and write in proper English. This is an essential first step to ensure that the IT we get is really what is required as without good comprehension of the problem the product may not meet the need. Too often I see comments on silicon.com, CNet and ZDNet articles in which "Techies" make so many spelling mistakes and phrase things so badly that the comment lacks meaning.
4. Jeremy Perkins
Better still, he should use the first £1000 to buy a one-way ticket so somewhere (anywhere, as long as he never comes back), then we can get someone who understands business (and for that matter how human beings think and work) to run the economy ...
5. Alistair Thomas
It's a bit previous investing in telecoms infrastructure now, although later is obviously better than never.
3G licences. £23B wasn't it? If they'd had a vision then and traded the licenses against investment in UK infrastructure then, where would be be today? Not only would we have a world class infrastructure to support home working and education but all the tech industries would have had that the benefit of those facilities for many years. They might even have been world class exporters of technology and ideas by now instead of playing catch-up in a recession.
Let's hope that if they do invest now that when the benefits start to come in they reinvest and reinvest and never think to steal it back to waste on public sector bureaucracy. Investment in manufacturing and production is for life not just for Christmas.
6. Rober-t
The powers that be keep on pussy-footing around next gen brodband, while other nations like Japan are already miles ahead. 10 yrs from now Japan will be having a brilliant network, and the UK will still be crawling behing on copper. It's pathetic that I'm not even getting 0.5MBps on my line in surbaban Milton Keynes, a mere 3km from the exchange!
7. Chris Evans
Mmm 'curbside cabinets' an American spelling for a British story!
8. An Old Duffer
It'll stop ageism?
It's all very well putting people through training courses, but if companies and agencies won't give you a second look, possibly due to your age what's the point?
A bit of volunteering this year and perhaps another 2 certifications before I finally give up accruing 'industry standard' qualifications nobody wants.