50 roundtable: IT skills & funding ... continued from previous page
Falconer bemoaned the reduction in traditional inhouse training through apprenticeships (which his company still adopts). “Day release, night school, and part- time education all seem to have been lost. These were great initiatives which also helped people who had fallen out of education for various reasons to get back into it.
“I encourage my managers to take on some of these disadvantaged people who are nonetheless showing the right attitude and approach to work. They get the opportunity to learn and develop, and, after all, we have a collective responsibility to others.“
Too many line managers today want recruits who are ready to fill a job role without training, he added. “But, it can take six months to fill some positions, and you could have trained your recruit by then.“
Havercroft suggested the Government, and maybe corporates, when placing big contracts, could play a role by including job creation and training within those contracts.
Concern about UK skill levels is not new said Staunton. “At the beginning of the 20th century, a government white paper highlighted Britain‘s lack of competitiveness. Maybe we are not good at resolving this issue, or we put good upskilling in place and then change it, or perhaps we are not as bad at skill provision as we think.“
How attractive is technology as a career
in offices, because things are automated, outsourced or moving to the cloud. There is now a shift in skills moving from the enterprise environment to IT companies.“
Walker praised the Government for making funding available for technology training at entry and management levels. Government match-funding through training provided by private companies was establishing a beneficial career progression route while helping businesses to maintain leading edge skills.
Falconer noted the distinct difference in the technology career image between the UK and USA. “American tech companies, such as Google and Apple are seen as sexy and highly attractive to the young. We don‘t have that; we don‘t have the brightest people clamouring to join our tech companies.“
Walker said there were UK companies building good ‘recruitment branding‘ by early engagement within UK universities, but he admitted they didn‘t have the cachet of Google or Facebook.
Bloxham suggested the BBC could be a popular UK brand as a technology career choice. Falconer felt the BBC was mainly a content provider and had a public sector image.
McMillan disagreed: “The BBC is very innovative on the tech side, and they are leading edge around the world in a lot of what they do. Of course, it is a non-commercial organisation, but there should be some interesting opportunities there.“
choice? Havercroft wondered if graduates saddled with education fee debts, would select technology as the career route to get them out of debt quickest. “I suggest not.“
Staunton felt the Government and skill- seeking companies had a responsibility to promote technology in schools as an exciting career field.
Murray pointed out the irony that youngsters use technology all the time, yet are not keen to work within the sector.
The fast-changing nature of technology was itself an obstacle to career choice, said Hawkins. “We no longer need some IT skills
Focus on: security . . .
Murray queried if a more mobile and flexible worklife endangered the security of businesses.
Walker: “It depends on a company‘s technical architecture but there is absolutely no reason today why your business should be less secure being centralised in a data-centre standard security environment.“
Hawkins agreed: “People have become used to be able to ‘touch‘ their data, but holding your data in your office actually makes you more vulnerable. When it‘s in a data centre it is 24/7 physically protected and multiple layers of security which should include encryption.“
“So, are concerns about BYOD unwarranted?“ asked Murray.
Any presence on the Internet is a risk, unless you get the configuration of your technical architecture right, was the Roundtable answer. So, with hackers getting more sophisticated, don‘t take short cuts. Spend money and time getting it right.
Wendy McMillan
www.businessmag.co.uk
Protecting Intellectual Property (IP) through legal routes was “a whole new ball-game, largely about making sure you actually own your IP,“ admitted Weaver.
. . . and tax breaks
Weaver believed a high percentage of companies were not yet using the Government‘s Patent Box initiative to protect their innovations while also gaining tax benefits.
Staunton noted that the Patent Box legislation aimed to help stimulate UK innovation had launched when there was an industrywide move towards open collaboration on innovation. She believed manufacturing rather than technology businesses might benefit most from the Patent Box.
David Murray
“There has been a misunderstanding about how most IT-based businesses protect their IP, because unless you have a unique algorithm that you can actually patent it‘s virtually impossible. However, if the objective is to drive more manufacturing back into the UK, then you could argue that the policy is succeeding.“
Weaver added: “The patent attorneys tell me it is extremely rare to contemplate patenting software nowadays, so the IT sector is not going to be able to take full advantage of the Patent Box tax breaks.“
Staunton said there were ways that technology companies might benefit if the Patent Box legislation was carefully examined. She exampled the improving under licence of existing patented technology.
Bloxham suggested Open Source collaboration was currently favoured. “The business model is put innovation out there, and we‘ll build services around it.“
Walker: “It‘s a brilliant thing to have the Patent Box tax break but the Government should complement it by looking seriously at IP and patent theft from emerging markets, which is a big issue in all sectors.“
Staunton: “The Patent Box has at least brought the UK back to the international IT table, by offering tax breaks like other countries.“
Weaver suggested R&D tax credits were far more valuable to the technology sector.
Staunton agreed: “That‘s been the most successful government tax solution ever for our sector, but there are still badly advised businesses unaware that they can claim them.“
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JULY/AUGUST 2013
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