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Why is it important that Scotland and the UK support technology as a career choice?
I believe that true ‘value add’ to a company or economy comes from innovation and advancements in technology. Major wealth creation comes from technological revolutions such as the Industrial Revolution or the internet revolution we are now going through. There are exciting technological advances to come and many of these rely on computer science and software development. Without supporting careers in these areas, I think Scotland and the UK risk becoming irrelevant in an increasing technical world. Without good technology skills, we will struggle to compete with other countries on a world stage.
How effective is current Scottish and UK policy in providing this support?
From anecdotal evidence, it would appear that university courses in technology (especially software technology) are less appealing to school leavers. There also seems to be a social issue with maths and science being ‘geeky’ and undervalued. It would appear, to the general population, that we are not doing anything to change that perception. Perhaps government is trying to help companies grow within the technology field but we have to make the sector more attractive to a generation of kids who will one day drive that sector forward.
At a policy level, what more could be done (or differently)?
We need to start with education and make technology and computing more challenging for pupils. My kids, who are 10 and 11, are bored with ICT in their school because it is too easy. They complain it only covers how to use Excel and Word (though they are moving on to HTML). We are showing children how to use computers but not how to develop. The initiatives to make computing the new Latin are a good move in this direction.
Should the school curriculum be reconfigured and/or should schools be doing things differen...
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The Public Services Network is the start of a journey which, if planned well, will transform the way the public sector works By Tom Kelly Director, Public Sector Scotland, BT Global Services It may sound counterintuitive, but one way to encourage innovation and progress is to get everyone doing the same thing. Take the railways, for example. When Brunel and others started laying tracks across Britain, they used an array of different gauges. It didn’t matter much until networks started to join up. At that point, it became a real nuisance. To get from A on one network to B on another, passengers and goods had to change trains. It slow...
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Experts from business and education outline the challenge in equipping Scotland’s workforce for the future It is estimated that the technology sector is worth £4bn to Scotland’s economy. Employing more than 100,000 ICT professionals here, it is regarded as a key driver of future economic growth. Over the next five years, more than 40,000 new entrants are required to fi ll IT and telecoms professional job roles in Scotland. Demand for permanent jobs in IT and computing is ahead of other sectors and has the fastest rate of vacancy growth. Employment in the IT industry is predicted to grow at nearly nine times faster than the Scottish...
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[caption id="attachment_12964" align="alignleft" width="476" caption="Edward Saatchi, Aharon Wasserman and Justin Lewis on the steps of their Washington DC office"][/caption] Clunky communication in the public sector could soon be transformed by a Facebook-style network Edward Saatchi is in his Washington DC office on Connecticut Avenue, about a mile and a half down the road from the White House. He’s just returned from South by Southwest (SXSW), the music, film and interactive conference in Austin, Texas. What began as a music event has in recent years become a magnet for technology start-ups; it was ...
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Making the decision-making process more accessible At local government level, very few people are aware of how vital decisions are made. The average person knows the council is in charge of schools, roads, parks and bin collections, but not many know how important their local authority is to their everyday lives. Everything from what time the local pub closes to the location of a new multimillion- pound shopping centre, is decided by the council. Within every town hall, city chamber and local government building, a myriad of offi cers are working to ensure the right choices can be made by the committees who ultimately make these decisions. ...
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