Intellect has today congratulated the Prime Minster Tony Blair on his re election, and confirmed that industry is ready and willing to work in partnership with government to help secure the UK's economic future.
However, it has warned that the economic clock is ticking, and that without decisive action from the Prime Minster the UK will be handicapped in its progress towards a knowledge economy.
Commenting, Tom Wills-Sandford, Director of Public Affairs at Intellect said:
"The Labour Party was right to put the economy and British competitiveness at the heart of its election campaign. Over the past weeks we've heard the Prime Minster and the Chancellor talk of the need to increase and incentivise skills and innovation, well, the time has now come to turn those election promises into reality."
"The UK's IT, Telecoms and Electronics leaders now call on the Prime Minster to prioritise UK competitiveness within the 21st century economy, and to do this by providing leadership. It is no longer appropriate to have a minister responsible for energy, e-commerce and postal services. We need a minister with a clear singular remit for driving the knowledge economy forward, responsible for the key levers: innovation, skills, infrastructure and the creation of an enabling policy environment."
"Without a clear vision and decisive leadership well-intentioned policies, such as the recently launched Digital Strategy, will become isolated and fragmented and ultimately fail to deliver. Without cross-government understanding and commitment the UK will fail to keep-pace with its international competitors. We urge the Prime Minster to keep the knowledge economy in the forefront of his mind over the coming days as he chooses his Cabinet, and to prioritise the appointment of a knowledge economy minister as the first key step in ensuring that the UK continues to compete effectively in the 21st century."
What is the hi-tech industry calling for?
Intellect is calling on the new government to set out a clear vision for Britain in the 21st century knowledge economy and build a strong network of politicians, civil servants, academics and industry leaders who share this 'transformation' vision and understand the opportunities and threats that the UK is facing.
Intellect is also calling for action to be taken to ensure that this vision is turned into reality. There needs to be decisive leadership from the top. The new government needs to place the nation’s knowledge economy at the centre of its programme.
We ask that that the Prime Minister appoints a minister whose only portfolio is the Knowledge Economy and he or she should be responsible for developing appropriate policies, institutions, investments and coordination across the four pillars we set out below:
- Exploiting Innovation: A network of public and private organisations capable of developing innovative goods and services, which exploit technology
- Skills: An educated and skilled population that can create, share, and use knowledge well, throughout their lives
- Information Infrastructure: An accessible and affordable information infrastructure, which enables the effective sharing and communication of information
- Policy Environment: The creation of a policy environment, which provides incentives to create and use knowledge and allows enterprise innovation and entrepreneurship to grow
We look forward to working with the new government on this exciting vision.
Press Contacts:
Jill Sutherland
T 020 7331 2024
E jill.sutherland@intellectuk.org
