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IP-City Network supporting a good IDEA
IP City Network supporting a good IDEA
New digital technologies are the driving force of a globally competitive economy, underpinning innovation, productivity and long-term prosperity. Indeed fully exploiting the potential of new digital technologies is the single most important step the UK can take to improve national competitiveness, and a vibrant workforce is critical for the success of every sector of the economy. Given this it follows that a world class technology skills base is an essential pre-requisite for UK success in the global economy.
Half of Europe’s productivity gains in recent years can be attributed to IT investments. US multinational firms are on average 8.5% more productive than UK domestic owned firms, and almost all of this difference is due to the higher productivity impact of their use of ICT. Fully exploiting technology can lever wholesale productivity gains across the economy equivalent to an additional £35 billion of Gross Value Added (GVA) in the next decade.
The competitiveness of the UK economy is underpinned by the presence of a strong IT & Telecoms sector. Yet as Paul Coby, Chief Information Officer at British Airways points out: “Our lead in the innovation and use of IT and Telecoms will disappear fast unless we radically improve our business and technology skills training at all levels. Get this right and the UK will be a winner in this first truly global industry. Get it wrong and we throw away the essential foundations of a modern economy”.
For this reason the IP City Network is a passionate supporter of IDEA Ltd, a new partnership established by BT, University College London, University of East Anglia, University of Essex, University Campus Suffolk and Suffolk New College, launched by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown at Adastral Park in February this year. IDEA is in business to develop, broker and deliver a skills escalator and associated business solutions for the ICT sector. IDEA stands for Innovation for the Digital Economic Age, and its ambitious aim is to support skills development from apprenticeships to post-graduate level building on the expertise of its founders and its commercial partners. Recently the IP City Network accepted the invitation to become an ‘employer champion’ of IDEA and to work to support both effective skills development and the integration of this activity with other regional initiatives such as Innovation Martlesham.
Speaking recently Dr Peter Funnell, chief executive of IDEA said: “IDEA is seeking to open up new opportunities to access skills training and support local and global competitiveness. We have been greatly encouraged by our early successes and look forward to working with businesses and agencies to encourage innovation and address known and predicted skills shortages in the future.”
To find out more about IDEA visit www.ideawebsite.co.uk
IP City Network focuses on the ICT needs of industry and is the catalyst for bringing like minded people together, via inspiring and informative innovation events, workshops, enterprise activities and Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Come and join us, membership is free.
This piece was published under the heading IP-City Network supporting a good IDEA in the IP-City Network column (sponsored by Prettys) in the Business East section of the East Anglian Daily Times, Tuesday 25 August 2009.
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