You are here: silicon.com > Public Sector

Leader: Are we too snobbish to deserve a British Google?

IT is no job for a gentlemen...

Tags: google

By silicon.com

Published: 13 June 2006 16:10 BST

'Whatever happened to the British Google, Yahoo! or MySpace?' This is the latest cry from the Conservative Party.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne has been on a fact-finding tour to Silicon Valley to figure out where we've been going wrong.

Osborne's general point is this - we the Brits invented the web and yet we've let it slip away because of high business taxes and a lack of innovation in our universities.

In the UK there is a feeling that if you fail once, you aren't likely to get a second go.

Whether you believe in the Tories as the saviours of the UK internet economy is one thing. But he does seem to have something of a point.

Silicon Glen, Silicon Fen, Silicon Corridor, Silicon Beach - we've heard 'em all. It's not for want of trying that we lack any really big UK internet players. But where are we going wrong?

Perhaps part of the problem is the way the British have looked down on business success.

From the days when the landed gentry looked down on the oiks that made their money from new-fangled steam engines, the British have never really shaken off the idea that business isn't a suitable employment for a gentleman.

And just as those Victorian engineers were looked down on for getting their hands dirty, so today's software engineers are similarly shunned. Even though - as the Conservatives have apparently just noticed - much of the innovation is coming from internet technologies.

On top of this, in the US - for all its other ills - there is a willingness to try, fail and try again. And again, until they succeed. In the UK there is a feeling that if you fail once, you aren't likely to get a second go.

So it's strange to see the posher of our two main political parties bemoaning the lack of innovation in the UK. Perhaps we need a little less snobbery before we deserve some internet successes.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

silicon.com Public Sector
Get the latest public sector news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the PS newsletter today!


  • Jobs
Experienced C++ Software Engineers Needed!! Oxfordshire 35k - 50k

Experienced C++ Software Engineers Needed! Huxley Associates are working with a Multi-national technology provider in the Oxfordshire area to recruit ...

C/C++ / Perl Software Engineers Required!! - Oxfordshire

C/C++ / Perl Software Engineers Required! We are looking for bright and talented Software Engineers to join a large Scientific / Technology provider ...

Real time Embedded Software Engineers - Linux - Oxfordshire 50k

Real-time Embedded Software Engineers - Linux - Oxfordshire Senior Embedded Software Engineers are needed to join a highly successful technology ...

John O’Brien
London 2012: Will IT be hit by credit crunch?
Funding for tech could fall short

Peter Cochrane
Peter Cochrane's Blog: Government gaffe
Misunderstanding IT… again

Martyn Hart
Green IT changes outsourcing for all
Gov't guidelines bring carbon footprint to the forefront

silicon.com
Inbox: Data breaches, tech wages, ePassport woes
"If you offer training, you'll be fighting the applicants off with the proverbial stick..."

silicon.com
Inbox: Snooping bills, spam mountains, boring IT
"Have gov't all taken leave of their senses?"

Martyn Hart
Is short-termism holding back public sector outsourcing?
Comment: Driving down bids can store up trouble

Agenda Setters 2008
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.




Quick Sitemap Links: