Letters to the editor

UK is cursed with an anti-innovation culture

2009-11-03T11:26:07+00:00

My experience points to a social reason that makes investment in IT innovation so difficult in the UK (Spirit of innovation in need of a tonic).

Most investors I talk to stress that they do not know enough about what we do. They ask their experts for advice. Many of these experts are like turkeys voting for Christmas – any groundbreaking IT innovation is by definition threatening to the status quo and is sneered at. We hear arguments such as: “If this were such a good idea, someone else would have done it by now,” or “Why don’t you license it to some big multinational,” – seemingly anything to not support new IT products here.

I don’t know what the solution is but until this changes, new IT products will not receive investment in this country and we will be saying the same thing in 50 years’ time. Well, some of us will, and that is if we are still capable of spelling “IT” then.

Richard Zybert

Stifled by green tax

2009-11-03T11:23:55+00:00

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) is a green tax that will cause lasting damage to small businesses and startups. It is typical of the government to give with one hand and take away with the other.

The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills wants industry to keep up with global changes by giving high-tech startups and small firms a helping hand, yet the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is stifling growth by punishing businesses that produce higher-than-average levels of carbon emissions with the CRC tax.

For high-tech businesses, such as those involved in data storage, the CRC is a financial barrier to growth, as it means the bigger your business gets, the more you pay. Despite DECC yet again trying to simplify the CRC, it remains a bureaucratic nightmare. The scheme will just involve more money being spent on consultants and internal resources with no noticeable impact other than ensuring more Whitehall jobs.

Protection of the environment should of course be high on the government’s agenda, but it needs to work out how to do this without penalising growth industries that rely on large amounts of electricity.

Robin Ellis, group commercial director, BlueSquare Data

Capital punishment

2009-11-03T11:22:35+00:00

I am fed up with seeing my name shown as “Mcmahon” instead of the correct “McMahon” on computer-processed printouts.

This has occurred even where I have input my name online, so it is not entirely due to typing errors by data entry clerks.

I have even seen both the correct and incorrect forms on different parts of the same document. Clearly some not-so-smart software is screwing things up.

What example does this set to youngsters trying to learn to spell, and foreigners trying to accustom themselves with our language? To me it suggests IT staff being less than professional, with a lack of care for standards or detail.

Some organisations, thankfully, do get my name right, so there is no excuse for the too many that do not.

Denis McMahon

Seeing it through

2009-11-03T11:21:25+00:00

A few decades ago, a Unipart commercial proudly exclaimed at the end: “The answer’s yes... now what’s the question?” Now I have returned to these shores after a career spanning the world, it should be: “The answer is no, as it might go wrong and I’ll be blamed’” (Spirit of innovation in need of a tonic).

After way too many sessions – funded by the taxpayer – with various quangos and their employees, despite their being in an ideal position to match-make complementary talents, they all still claim to offer me money so long as I tick a box, yet totally fail to understand that what makes innovation pay is a team that takes it from creation to sale.

Not every good idea is generated by a person capable of, much less skilled in, drawing up 10-year projections that suggest targets that need to be set but are never met once signed off.

Peter Martin

A slumbering success

2009-11-03T11:19:53+00:00

The past year has been financially tough for everyone. Charity and fundraising have, perhaps understandably, taken a back seat.

However, in attending this year’s Byte Night, the IT industry’s annual sleep-out event for Action for Children, I witnessed an astounding display of generosity as more than 700 people gave up their beds for the night to raise money to fight youth homelessness.

The outpouring of compassion, kindness and support for the charity, and the vulnerable people it works tirelessly to support, was humbling. The atmosphere was amazing, a sure sign of everyone’s enthusiasm, commitment and dedication to the cause.

It is this passion and support that has set Byte Night 2009 on course to smash all previous records. Not only did we have more sleepers this year, but they registered faster than ever. More importantly, we have broken our fundraising targets. We have collected more than £450,000, and money is still coming in. By the end of the year, we will have cleared £500,000.

Reaching this milestone was not achieved by chance. It is down to the hard work of everyone involved in the campaign. As founder of the event, I want to thank the sleepers, donors, the Byte Night board and everyone behind the scenes. Your involvement will help Action for Children win its fight against youth homelessness.

Ken Deeks, founder,

Byte Night

Bad experience

2009-11-03T11:16:20+00:00

There are plenty of certified schools to train our young people. However, they are turned away from opportunities to get a job in their chosen field because they have no experience (Are you confident about the current career development opportunities in IT?).

Even professionals who are changing fields within IT get the same results – certified but no experience. Instead of encouraging career changers or graduates who are anxious to make their mark in the field, they are being turned away.

Allen Cuzelis

All IT buyers need a good dash of innovation

2009-10-28T10:53:11+00:00

Your article “Spirit of innovation in need of a tonic” misses the point when it focuses on investment. The real issue in the UK is lack of support in buying “new innovation”. Entrepreneurs want work, not government investment.

The government spends £16bn on IT yet has no mechanism to adopt innovation in its purchasing contracts. Actually, it is even worse as government buyers have no system that keeps in touch with emerging application development innovations – which is where the failures in IT mainly occur.

Until government understands this vital link, we will continue to sit in the relative Dark Ages, spending vast sums, the majority of which will be wasted as it disappears into the coffers of large vendors and their closely aligned supply chain.

These large – mainly US – vendors do not innovate. They exploit and mould old technologies they acquire. They cannot bring forward radically new technologies that may crater their existing business – it’s called the “innovator’s dilemma”. So they ignore the mavericks who have such breakthroughs until they reach some level of traction – that is, if they survive. Large vendors then buy them up to eliminate a threat or merge them into their current complex stack of technologies.

UK innovators can be such mavericks who can challenge the status quo and become global players, but without the support of IT buyers, they will fail. Government needs to fix the core problem, but papering over the cracks is no tonic.

David Chassels

Planning ahead

2009-10-28T10:50:11+00:00

I totally agree on the necessity to bring greater professionalism to IT leaders (Tomorrow’s IT Leaders).
After serving my time as project manager, systems manager and IT manager, I became a chief information officer (CIO) three years ago. Much of my training was on the job and I struggled initially at each promotion. The step up to CIO is particularly difficult.

I have now joined with other experienced IT leaders at Robert Gordon University to develop and deliver an MSc in IT management.

The course launches in January 2010 for distance learners and will be offered to full-time students in September 2010. I believe it will help to deliver a better and more professional generation of IT leaders. They will be armed with the tools and critical skills they need to make a success of whatever comes their way.

Dave McKay

IT’s not what you know

2009-10-28T10:47:33+00:00

You mention the whims and fancies of politicians and the effect they have on IT (Election will herald big changes for IT ).

What must also be included are the square pegs in round holes within IT. At middle and senior management level, a number of people holding these positions have made it so far by internal politics and little awareness of the real issues.

Either that or they’re of the “I know what I’m doing without any input from the people who really know” ilk.

Andrew Smith

Take an axe to ID cards

2009-10-28T10:44:50+00:00

The government started out convinced everyone wanted ID cards and that they would sell themselves (Home Office staff offered chance to be first to have ID cards).

As details of a poorly designed system with no obvious benefits emerged, the public reacted negatively. Attempts were made to use airport workers as a control group, but abandoned when they threatened to strike. Then it was proposed to aim the cards at students and young people. A barrage of negative publicity ensued and student bodies rejected the concept in no uncertain terms.

Civil servants will form the third attempt to recruit a control group. I am sure they are just as enthusiastic about ID cards as the airport workers and students. But none of it matters, as the next government will axe the whole scheme anyway.

Simon Evans