FT DIGITAL BUSINESS SUMMARY

Peter Whitehead, Editor of Financial Times supplement Digital Business, was on the panel at the Knowledge and Skills for a Digital Future conference and kindly composed a summary of day two for us.

Peter Whitehead, Financial Times, Digital Business Editor.

Presentation September 2007, at Equalitec Conference on

Knowledge and Skills for a Digital Future

My thoughts on this occasion covered three main areas.

First – Digital Business. This FT supplement covers the use and management of IT business – by looking at best practice throughout all sectors and all relevant technologies. It is aimed at the core FT reader – decision-makers in business. Some current particular concerns of the section include green computing, mobility and flexibility, skills, IT transformation, the nature of the corporation, the role of the CIO and IT staff etc.

Second – on the subject of skills, we need to identify what skills we are talking about there are engineering/technical/programming skills – people involved in creating, adapting and maintaining IT - the engineers and mechanics. And then there is almost everyone else – the drivers and the passengers. These cover a huge spectrum, from occasional e-mailers to designers using CAD tools or finding new uses for the mass of data accumulated in CRM systems, for example.

Third – if some parts of the world are short of people at the mechanics/engineering end of the spectrum, then why has this happened and what can be done about it? I think there are many factors, but here are two simple reasons possibly deterring youngsters from studying technology and computing and considering careers as IT professionals.

- The way IT professionals are perceived tends to create a negative image. Job titles such as “database administrator”, while being perfectly good jobs, are hardly going to inspire students. The IT world needs to address this – language and terminology does matter. IT should also seek out “stars” of its own – successful people working in robotics, artificial intelligence, security, medicine etc – and promote them; it might even lobby for a TV series on such people; and it could find a figure head, or spokesman, to represent and champion this generation of technologists. And don’t forget that most non-IT workers’ perceptions of the IT world are built on their encounters with the helpdesk, usually under stress at a time of IT failure.

- Pay is also a big factor. If there is a shortage of accountants, pay rises until the shortage disappears. This sends a message that they are valued. Compare this with IT departments, where the main forces are seen as being “driving out cost”, or “controlling costs”. Who would feel valued in that environment?

Having said that, we have seen the first wave of “digital natives” entering the workplace – those brought up using computers. Next we will see the “broadband natives” hitting the workplace – those who have grown up with sharing, fast downloading, and online collaboration. These are skills that may be in big demand. As large organisations seek partners to operate non-core sections of their business, demand will grow for technologically able people who are skilled in handling partnerships, relationships and collaboration. The coming era of mass collaboration could mean a rosy future for some.

We would like to thank Peter for his contributions to the success of the day.