Postcards from the Edge : Partnering for the Future

Economic Impact Study

claireoh — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:37:00 GMT

On 18th October, we shared the results of a survey conducted by IDC on the economic impact of IT, Software and Microsoft's part in this in 82 countries.

Download the full report here.

The study highlights the enormous impact that the ICT industry and the Microsoft partner ecosystem has on job creation and economic development.

From a UK perspective, the study shows that here spending on IT will reach £45.7 billion in 2007 and is expected to grow a further 5.5% pa over the next four years. It also found that IT spending on software creates a disproportionate share of the skilled job growth. Software drives activity in the services and distribution sectors, as well as in organisations using IT. So while UK spending on packaged software will be only less than a quarter of total IT spending in 2007, 59% of employment in IT will be software-related.

IDC findings also reveal that Microsoft-related IT activities in 2007 will be the source of nearly 550,000 jobs in the UK which amounts to 40% of total IT employment, currently standing at 1.37 million employees. The study forecasts that the UK IT industry will generate £29.6 million in tax revenue in 2007 increasing over the next four years to £35 million. In the same period, Microsoft-related jobs will increase globally by nearly 3 million as part of the 7.1 million new jobs for the IT sector worldwide.

The Microsoft ‘ecosystem’ - companies selling products that run on or with Microsoft software, or that service and distribute Microsoft software (namely, our partner channel) - also play a key role in driving the IT industry's overall contribution to job growth and economic development. In 2007, the Microsoft partner community is expected to generate more than £15 billion. For every £1 that Microsoft earns in the UK, another £7.50 is generated for our partner channel.

Global Entrepreneurship Week

claireoh — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:20:00 GMT

On Tuesday entrepreneurs and policymakers from over 30 countries convened in Portman Square to plan for a worldwide enterprise week this time next year, designed to promote entrepreneurship and enterprise among young people around the globe. It is based on Enterprise Week - taking place this week across the UK with over 5000 events and forecasted to reach thousands of students.

The GEW launch event saw Gordon Brown talking passionately about our need to inspire more people to start businesses and increase UK-led innovation. Carl Schramm from Kauffman Foundation thinks enterprise and entrepreneurship is the route out of poverty and the best way to create sustainable economic growth both in developed and developing nations.

I met some inspiring folks: Charles from Uganda is committed to having the best week out of all the countries and has the full backing of the government and enterprise agencies locally. People from Spain and Italy, Russia and Ukraine, said the investor communities are keen to get involved and make a bet on more young emerging entrepreneurs. Sir Ronald Cohen is lending his support (presumably in between trips to the Middle East) and Lord Billamoria (Cobra Beer) was on fine form as always. From our perspective, as one of the global partners, we plan to get as many local and regional Microsoft offices mobilized and facilitate a great event. Technology is obviously a critical part of the mix what with the growing usage of social networks by this target audience.

I had a great chat with June Sarpong of T4 (Channel Four) fame. June was at the launch workshop to talk about ambassadors and celebrities. We got into a debate about the 'nature of celebrity' - and the lack of [m]any young 'entrepreneur celebrities' in the UK that could front the campaign. When asked to name role model young Brits, people generally come up with names of footballers, actresses, musicians - but not businesspeople - and when is the last time we saw a tech entrepreneur as a 'celebrity'? So we're on a mission to find funky young entrepreneurs to feature between now and Nov 2008 to inspire more young people to consider starting their own biz. In my job, I'm lucky enough to meet and work with some amazing young software entrepreneurs. Unfortunately they rarely find themselves in the media spotlight. With June's help we're going to make business sexy!!!! We know we've hit gold when the tabloids snap a geek leaving a nightclub at 3am. Watch this space......

Armadillo hits BA lounges worldwide

claireoh — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:44:00 GMT

Time to move on and take on the world... Here's what I'll be up to in the coming year:

As of 1^st December I will be part of Microsoft Corporation’s DPE group (and hence departing Microsoft UK Partner Group) focussing on Emerging Business and building our Local Software Economy initiative.

With the EB team, based in Silicon Valley, we'll continue to identify high-growth start-ups, work with the entrepreneur community and manage investor relations across the EU. It is a great opportunity to support emerging companies particularly with a cross-border strategy.

I will continue to be involved with Voices for Innovation and I'd encourage you all to sign up and get involved in helping me influence EU policy!!!!

Local Software Economy (LSE) is something very close to my heart as many of you know. LSE focuses on Microsoft taking a leadership role in the growth of local software economies. For me this is about investing in great partnerships across academia, public sector, working with government bodies and enterprise agencies, software associations and those interested in creating an environment where enterprise and innovation flourish. Microsoft has a great opportunity to grow the overall contribution to the economy, particularly in Emerging Markets.

My work will take me to China, India, SE Asia, Russia, Middle East and Africa. In fact there aren’t many BA lounges I won’t be visiting!!

SteveB launches Startup Accelerator Program

claireoh — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:25:00 GMT

Getting into London on Monday morning to attend The Online Opportunity event which featured our own Steve Ballmer was challenging: I had a flat tyre on my car, got a late train, and Victoria was closed due to a security alert. And it was raining. But it was worth it when I did get there...

Brent Hoberman, co-founder of Lastminute.com, when asked about the entrepreneurial culture and spirit in the UK thought it alive and well – despite us being somewhat “risk averse” – and said the UK “is a good place to do business”. He also said “the media is schizophrenic” on the whole subject and mentioned a vibrant “ecosystem of support organisations”. When asked if he had advice for entrepreneurs that witness downturns (as lastminute did when the dotcom bubble burst) he said it helps to have “outrageous ambition” and to keep going even when times are tough and others doubt you. I like that.

Ben Way also mentioned our tendency to be risk averse but says “failure teaches us more than success” and often “admitting you messed up is the most empowering thing to do”. The Amercians appear to be pretty gung-ho about trying out their ideas and even if they don’t work, they learn lessons and use them to their advantage. I think it was Churchill who said “Success is going from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm”.....

Ben’s second message was about people – hiring good people is essential but he reckons finding those that “do the do” can be difficult. Ben is lucky to have a very experienced board supporting one of his new ventures, ViaPost. He says they have to strike a balance between process and a “VC mentality” ....and being innovative, while keeping an eye on cashflow.

Saul Klein, the man behind Seedcamp and OpenCoffee, also thinks people are a cornerstone of success – he talked about the Three O’s –

1. Opportunity

2. Other People

3. Ownership

On the subject of Finance, Saul made a very valuable point about where you get your funds – encouraging folks to make it about “people first and cash second”. Plan to find seed investors to get you up and running in the early days with ‘no strings’ then think carefully about where you get serious cash later on.

The Dragon’s Den concept has been hugely successful, with similar panels and pitches as part of the Running the Gauntlet initiative that EEDA ran with Doug Richard’s Library House.

Do you want a Peter Jones involved in your business? For his money, or his little black book? Or both? Either way you need people involved (including investors) that are passionate about the product and can evangelise it far and wide.

Where to spend it when you get it? Well, none of the panel thought investing in Marketing and PR was particularly worthwhile: Saul Klein thinks that publicity is “part of a larger conversation with the customer” and to market yourself in the early days, the “best way is to start blogging”. Afterwards, I met Sam Sethi from Blognation and formerly Techcrunch – which Saul says is “giving oxygen to start-ups”. Ben said they probably wasted a few grand on advertising and worthless marketing when they got a few mill for one of their ventures. Personally, I’d find it hard not to visit a Jimmy Choo store if a few mill landed in my account.

Talking of Choo’s the ever-glamorous and intelligent Cary Marsh, founder and CEO of Mydeo, said instead of hiring expensive sales people who couldn’t evangelise their vision as effectively as the founding directors, she hired a PA which allowed her get out and meet people, sell her concept and build relationships with partners and customers!

Both Cary and Ben said the Microsoft partnership had been “invaluable” and all three panellists advised smart start-ups to leverage corporate programs. I’ve always said that things like Empower and StartUpZone from Microsoft were a ‘no brainer’ for small software developers.

Yesterday we took our investment in emerging companies and start-ups to the next level when Steve Ballmer announced the new Startup Accelerator – designed to offer a 'kit bag' of support services for high growth start-ups and young, small companies developing solutions on the Microsoft platform. Benefits include: access to our experts for help with ‘envisioning’ around new and emerging technologies, use of our labs and facilities, discounted software for development, programs to help you connect with partners and customers, and general business advice and ‘investment readiness’.

Miomi are one of the five launch partners. Their solution helps you capture a “moment in time”. Very cool.

Last year, we helped companies like Nitrosell and the omnipresent Tom Keane is now enjoying the glow of success. Here he is trying to sell SteveB a retail system.

Britain's Digital Elite

claireoh — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:10:00 GMT

Real Business magazine and Microsoft have teamed up to find "the nation’s most intelligent users of software". These firms are harnessing software to radically improve performance, transforming their sector in the process. The 30 most innovative will be featured in a 13-page report in the November edition of Real Business, entitled Britain’s Digital Elite.

In particular, we are looking for firms that are deploying software in a creative and ground-breaking way. The area in which the software is used could be a small part of the firm’s overall operation such as warehousing or staff training, or it could be at the very core of operations. The software could be off-the-shelf, bespoke or customised; a single package or module, or a combination of packages.

There will be ten categories:

M&A Using software to facilitate any part of the M&A process
Mobile workforce Applications relying on all aspects of mobile
Workforce education Using software to upskill and/or talk to your employees
Consumer interaction Any customer-facing application
Marketplace analysis Using software to provide strategic insight
Performance analysis Internal information gathering
Taking on the big guys Using software to disrupt incumbents
Logistics Using software to co-ordinate, track and/or transmit goods
Back office automation Streamlining and accelerating processes
R&D Research and development focussed IT

Each category will have one Winner and two Highly Recommended

So you have an innovation solution, you should sign up now at http://www.realbusiness.co.uk/elite

Cool Companies

claireoh — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:06:00 GMT

Alas the summer is over and the opportunities to put the roof down are reducing dramatically. Now it's down to business. Thought it useful to share what the Emerging Partners team is up to in the coming months...

We're focused on supporting and 'incubating' the next generation of software companies to become Microsoft partners - be they small, young independent software vendors (ISV) with a 'packaged product' for a niche market; software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers or Web 2.0 entrepreneurs and early stage start ups. This is good news for anyone previously interested in working closely with Microsoft and perhaps not finding it easy to engage!

In the previous six months, we made huge progress with our SaaS enablement program and BT alliance to promote hosted apps with SMB customers. In the coming twelve months of our new fiscal, we're investing heavily in relationships with high growth companies that want to take the lastest solutions to market - be they traditional on-premise propositions, over the web, or a combination of both software + services.

Part of our renewed value proposition is the Start Up Accelerator program. More news on that after 1st October.

Developing a solution that takes advantage of our emerging technologies can absorb valuable time and funds, so we're keen to give partners access to more expert advice and support to create 'next gen' apps as quickly as possible. We're also exploring partnerships with the investor community and regional development agencies, connecting start ups to funding sources, increasing your investment readiness. No point having cool technology if your cashflow is preventing growth. Our marketing team can also help you with lead generation campaigns to acquire new customers, and we have great examples of partners connecting with other partners and developing new routes-to-market.

So what kind of companies are we working with?

Last year, our team helped lots of different companies grow in partnership with Microsoft. Nitrosell were lauded on stage at worldwide partner conference. Mydeo signed up to work with BT. BeProfessional have come a long way, also working with BT and Peter Jones of Dragon's Den and Tycoon fame.

Volutio have something that would certainly make my life a lot easier! Have a look at their cool introduction.

Horsesmouth were featured in the news again recently. Xero paid us a visit this week, as did Comrange. We're off sailing next week at the Silicon Cup with Miomni and Daniel Doll-Steinberg from Tribeka. The stuff the guys at Short Fuze are producing is just too cool for words. And then there's a great concept in e-lending, Wonga.

So we are keeping busy....

Number Ten

claireoh — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 02:24:00 GMT

"Someone needs what you know. Someone knows what you need." This is the rather clever motto of Horsesmouth - a recently launched e-mentoring solution where people volunteer their expertise and experience to someone else's benefit.

The reception at 10 Downing Street on 24th July was part of the Prime Minister's day to promote community activism and celebrate 'everyday heroes'. Brainchild of the fabulous M T Rainey, this social networking site allows people to connect and learn from each other.

Good commentary on the evening by Martin Baker. Particularly like the collection of 'pearls of wisdom' that M T gathered...from a veritable Who's Who....

Another great bunch I met that evening were from V (for Volunteering) and their site has some good ideas on how to get involved. As the V site says....."You're unique. You can make a difference". I know we talk about it a lot these days but many successful people in that room really are going beyond champagne, canape's and sound bites and making an impact. I look forward to my next visit :-)

Denver Diary

claireoh — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 03:08:00 GMT

Last week saw 400+ UK Microsoft Partners and 8,000+ from around the globe descend on humid Denver, Colorado, for our Worldwide Partner Conference. WPC is a great forum to celebrate success as our fiscal year closes and we look ahead to the coming fiscal year.

There seemed to a be a great buzz about the place this year. Every partner I met was very energized about Microsoft and how we make money together in the future (what it's all about, after all) and it was great to see the connections being made around the room - particularly in the bar after the sessions. There were one or two fuzzy heads at the 8am keynotes on Day Three I noticed.

The opening keynotes from Allison Watson, our Corporate VP for Partner, showcased some of the work we've been doing over the past year - including the Trestle Foundation project in Dhaka which has since evolved to be one of the largest UKDP-backed potential projects for a Microsoft Partner in the region. Really satisfying to see a small (woman-owned) Microsoft Partner in a developing country with a $70m opportunity - and one that has such a huge socio-economic impact in a country that had to cancel elections previously. Also good to see BP up there and other UK companies using our new technologies such as Silverlight (WPF/e) and Virtual Earth.

Allison's keynote on Day Two also featured Nitrosell, one of the Irish software companies we've been working with through Enterprise Ireland. Good to see the focus on Voices for Innovation too - which Allison says helps innovative partners of our's "get heard" and help shape IT policy. I'm lucky enough to have the goal to sign up our UK partners to VFI in the coming year. So if you haven't done so already, sign up today!!!!

Kevin Turner, our COO, talked about "monetizing the innovation" so that is the theme for me this year as Partnering for the Future evolves to help make Microsoft the vendor of choice for emerging, high growth companies. We're busy adding to and improving, with the Emerging Business Team, our support for start-ups, entrepreneurs and young, small companies - from investment readiness initiatives, tools such as StartupZone to the ever-popular Empower program.

Check out some of the keynotes here.

Reaching the Regions

claireoh — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:43:00 GMT

Firstly, apologies for neglecting my blog in recent weeks. I would like to say it is because I have been lying on a beach in the Med being fed grapes and pina coladas by Carlos, without my PC and mobile device but, alas, I have been somewhat distracted with year-end and new fiscal year planning at Microsoft. Somewhat less glamorous, July and August have featured heavily trips to London, Reading and Brum. Sometimes through floods. But with the roof down.

Scott Dodds confirmed our support of a regional strategy a few weeks ago and it might surprise you to know that I have been spending quite a bit of time on the M40 to visit Aston Science Park and Advantage West Midlands, discussing the Regional Economic Strategy amongst other things.

They had some good news recently with the Ericsson investment and AWM have plenty of activities underway to increase the impact and profitability of the IT industry in the region. Hopefully Microsoft and BT can play an active role in closing the productivity gap.

Talking of active roles.....my favourite maverick, Sir Digby Jones, who hails from this region, was vocal in his support of investment in skills and training...

Sir Digby said the structure of the British economy was right for the challenges of global competition – but believes that a failure to properly invest in skills has held us back for too long.

“Globalisation is made for this country,” he said. “We are so open. We don’t do tariffs and subsidies. The one nation that is so free in engaging the world in business is us, but there are two things we need to put the ball in the net – financial investment and a broader skills base.”

“China and India will always beat us; Vietnam and Cambodia will beat them. The only way we can win is if we add value. You can’t do that without skilled people and a market that will buy those skills.

“If we don’t give people the skills, then we don’t sell anything around the world – it’s as simple as that. The only way we win is being able to sell the world something which has that added value.”

Our partnership with the Black Country Consortium - closely linked to Unlimited Potential - is one example of our commitment to the region and, through our work with the AWM leadership team, local universities and strong public and private sector partnerships, we are hoping to find the next generation of Ericssons and BT's. We're exploring ways to create more Innovation Centres and help students and entrepreneurs take their ideas to market. For me, its about finding the right balance between Technology Enablement and Business Enablement - Access to Finance being continually quoted as the biggest obstacle to growth.

It will be interesting to see what the new minister has planned for regional enterprise. In the meantime, we will continue our stints on the M40 and hope that we don't encounter too much traffic on our travels.

Women Ambassadors

claireoh — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:24:00 GMT

On Monday, fresh from a relaxing weekend in St Andrew's (where it rained a lot), I participated in a panel discussion along with Margaret Hodge, Minister of State for Industry and the Regions, at the launch of the Women's Enterprise Ambassador's Network.

The recruitment of 1,000+ to this network is so they serve as role models for the next generation of entrepreneurs and inspire more girls and women to choose a career in business. Obviously, our hope is to encourage more to choose a career in IT also - and to use technology as the basis for their innovations. We could do with more girl geeks. I met Sarah Blow at the event who runs London Girl Geek dinners. Marvellous.

Interestingly, the GEM report highlighted that women are twice as likely to launch a new business venture based on new technology (that wasn't available a year prior). However, women start-ups still face some challenges - such as the perceived barrier to access to finance - so it's important that the banks can help provide education and attract more women to use their services to fund their ideas. Claire Logie from Royal Bank of Scotland was also on the panel.

The other key pillar of the Taskforce is to simplify the Business Support Services - i.e. make it easy for entrepreneurs and owners of small, young businesses to access the right level of Government support. There is a lot out there but often people don't know what is available to them. The Small Firms Loan Guarantee offer for instance was news to me. So, lots to do. The guys at the SBS at the DTI are busy working on this as we speak.

I met Jackie Waring during my visit to the MS Edinburgh office last Thursday to talk about her idea for a web-based lending solution - where UK women provide an investment pot for women entrepreneurs in developing countries. One to explore a bit further perhaps and connect with the Trestle Foundation.

One final bit of goods news (I think so anyway)....is that there will be more women millionaires in the UK by 2020 than men. And before you ask, no, that's not as a result of generous divorce settlements!!!! We certainly could do with more women business angels investing in the next generation of women Web 2.0 entrepreneurs. And God knows, you always need more shoes....

Congrats to Xero team

claireoh — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:33:00 GMT

Bit of a milestone for my mate Mr Drury and his team of star players in Wellington, NZ, last week. Listing on the stock exchange is Xero's first step towards world domination me thinks.

Warm fuzzy feeling seeing this. They are a great bunch, it's a killer Web 2.0 app, and I can't wait to help them take on the UK SMB market later this year. Bring it on. I was lucky enough to spend a few days out there and see it in the flesh. Dodgy photo though :-)

Developing the Future

claireoh — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:27:00 GMT

Back from my travels and straight back into it. Last Thursday at the British Library, Microsoft launched Developing the Future 2007 - a report on the socio-economic impact of the UK software industry. Worth a read. Some great pieces in there from key commentators (and friends). Keynotes on the day from Julie Meyer and Matt Locke were fab.

Greetings from Hanoi

claireoh — Mon, 21 May 2007 12:59:00 GMT

PRESS RELEASE

Microsoft Initiative Helping Facilitate Greater Alliances Between

UK and Vietnam Software Economies

Highlighted by the participation of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, a delegation of UK companies hears about Microsoft Corporation’s commitment to facilitating high-value cross-border partnerships to drive the software economies of both countries.

Hanoi, Vietnam, May 21^st, 2007 – Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation, started his first official visit to Vietnam today with a meeting with representatives from the UK Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partner community, led by Microsoft UK and Harvey Nash plc and supported by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

Vietnam is now the third largest offshore software services destination in South East Asia providing software services to the European and US markets. Vietnam has the second highest GDP growth (after China) with 8.4% in 2005 and 2006.

In anticipation of increasing demand for what is a highly skilled young population, where software is one of the critical growth industries, the UK now considers Vietnam an emerging force on the world stage. Together with several UK [financial services] enterprise customers (namely Legal & General and Marshall Wace), the Microsoft UK partner delegation is seriously investigating how to take advantage of the Vietnamese IT workforce.

Meanwhile, Vietnam ISVs (represented by VINASA) is keen to improve the IT skills of Vietnamese software workers so that their market can deliver world-class Microsoft skills and this was further reinforced by a visit to London in April, again supported by UK Trade and Investment and Harvey Nash plc.

Today, Steve Ballmer also meets with VINASA to find out what Vietnam needs to do to improve their ability to export software skills and attract outsourcing business from the UK and Europe, and what Microsoft can do to support Vietnam’s local software economy.

“Vietnam’s growth and ambition in developing their software services industry is a prime differentiator when choosing an off-shore location. Harvey Nash is a driver in the development and utilization of technology skills in Vietnam employing over 1,800 technology professionals who are helping Microsoft ISV partners develop innovative solutions. The real value for ISV’s is significantly reduced time-to-market, lower overall costs and delivering a faster return on investment” says Paul Smith, Managing Director, Harvey Nash outsourcing.

The trade delegation is a milestone in the closer business relationship between Vietnam and the UK as it opens up new outsourcing opportunities for local software companies and leads to increased competitiveness for UK firms, demonstrating Microsoft’s commitment to helping our ISV partner community become more profitable on our platform.

Claire O’Halloran, leading the strategy for ‘next generation’ partnerships at Microsoft UK, said

“As the leading technology innovator in software industry, we strive to connect companies and individuals around the globe and promote best practice. Part of our commitment to facilitating greater cross-border collaboration is reinforced by the International ISV Assistance (IIA) initiative which provides assistance in growing ISV’s revenue, increasing market share and maximizing their satisfaction with the Microsoft relationship. UK companies partnering with Vietnamese companies can deliver real mutual benefits and we’re pleased to be able to make that happen”.

Investment in skills in Vietnam by both Microsoft and Harvey Nash plc to date has been substantial: recently Harvey Nash/FPT joint venture partnership invested in the first corporate-run university to create Microsoft business-ready engineers, supporting Micosoft Vietnam’s training programs for the developer community work with our emerging technologies.

The UK Trade Delegation is sponsored by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) part of the Department for Trade and Industry (DTi). This is the first ever trade delegation of this kind initiated by Microsoft UK and Government sponsored. This mission reinforces Microsoft’s aims to create an environment for ISV’s where enterprise and innovation flourish, driving the local software economy in both the UK’s developed economy and Vietnam’s emerging economy.

With operations in both markets (UK and Vietnam), Microsoft can be an effective bridge for ISVs of both countries to get connection and growth together. More broadly, Microsoft can play an effective role in fostering and developing trade alliances between UK and Vietnamese companies, at the same time encouraging technology transfer between Vietnam and the UK.

So far, a significant number of UK and international businesses use the development services of Vietnamese software houses: Government (both UK and US), Banks, Hedge Funds, Wealth Management, Technology Companies, Media and industrial businesses capitalise on the growth of the Vietnamese IT services industry. These include many household names such as Honda, Discovery Television, Legal and General, Royal Bank of Scotland, DTI, Capita plc, The Prince’s Trust, Petronus, Vanco plc, Barclays Capital, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

About Harvey Nash

Harvey Nash plc, a global professional recruitment consultancy and IT outsourcing service provider, is committed to delivering the very best talent and IT solutions to a broad base of clients. Its 3,000 staff and associates, operating from 30 offices covering the USA, Europe and Asia, pursue the highest levels of integrity, professionalism and quality in providing its unique portfolio of services: executive search, interim management, IT and finance recruitment and IT outsourcing. For more information please visit www.harveynash.com

About International ISV Assistance (IIA)

The International ISV Assistance initiative — a portal developed for ISV Certified and Gold Certified Partners — can help you expand your business internationally. With country-specific planning tools, expert guidance, and professional assistance offers, you’ll be equipped to find local contacts, target potential customers, and build your channel. Find out more at partners.microsoft.com

About UK Trade and Investment

UK Trade & Investment is the Government organisation that helps UK-based companies succeed in an increasingly global economy. Its range of expert services are tailored to the needs of individual businesses to maximise their international success. We provide companies with knowledge, advice and practical support. Read more at https://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ukti

ENDS

Digby on Skills

claireoh — Fri, 04 May 2007 13:29:00 GMT

The highlight of the week for me has got to be the annual Sir Digby Jones Business Breakfast with Harvey Nash. Possibly the most inspiring talk of the year thus far. And Microsoft got a mention. Wow, was I proud (OK, OK I can hear the groans....but it is pleasing to know he is excited about the things we talked about on the 24^th April)...

You can read the Harvey Nash blog here. Some interesting stats I noted and (paraphrased) highlights -

Government has failed. It's up to us to create an environment where we create more wealth.
Skills is the only way for a developed economy to make money and have the advantage.
The twenty-first century belongs to Asia.
Migrants contribute £18bn to the exchequer. They're not all relying on the welfare state. So it [immigration] could be a huge benefit - or it could lead to social destruction.
The US went from barbarism to decadence without any period of civilization.
It's a perception game. Welcome to life.
17% of GDP comes from the creative industries. The UK is No.1 in Financial Services.
Public Sector is our biggest employer. Private sector has more of a role to play in Schools.
The chancellor (Gordon Brown) introduced me last week as his "mentor and tormentor"..
Find out more about Train to Gain launched on 14^th June.
Use your power; we've got a few bob and we've got to use it to make Great Britain greater.
11m adults in the UK cannot add up two three-figure numbers.
Nobody should be saying ‘it's nothing to do with me'...it's everything to do with all of us.
£18bn more a year is paid by private sector to UK graduates.
Skills follow capital.
Private sector needs to give back.....and be seen to give back.
Top up fees are not enough; smart companies will attract talent by paying off student debt.
There are now 750,000 people in apprenticeships (up from 250,000) and we need to do more to get 14+ year olds into vocational education.
It's all about the knowledge economy - the development and exploitation and use of knowledge.
We need to create a mindset of improvement.
The UK is a free market. Unlike the protectionist policies of France and the US.
Microsoft is doing some great work :-)
One of the unspoken laws of democracy is to look after minorities.
Smart sourcing: get the commodities at the cheapest price and add the value here.
The Leitch report talks about the danger of creating an unskilled underclass. [Read a response from NESTA to the Leitch report here]
Public services rely on a thriving business community.
We are not currently delivering to the world of work a product fit for purpose.
The NHS, local authorities and the MoD employ the most unskilled people (who cannot read, write or operate a computer).
We no longer do things that don't require a skill and, guess what, we don't have enough skills.
7m adults can't read and write. The average is white male aged 26.
I used to think business could make a difference. Now I think business can make the difference.

TGIF

claireoh — Fri, 04 May 2007 12:38:00 GMT

Happy Friday. Gosh....what a week. Looking forward to chilling out over the long weekend.

Got back from Seattle on Wednesday straight into a meeting with SEEDA about (primarily) women's enterprise and what we can together in the South East. Last night I attended the Thames Valley Economic Partnership dinner at Vodafone HQ in Newbury - again talking with people from the SE region about how we might work together. Met some great folks. Interestingly the guys from Dell and Oracle on our table didn't turn up. Oh well, more mindshare for Microsoft...

Talking with the guys from NESTA about their Future Innovators program yesterday, I was almost overwhelmed by the potential. We discussed ways of helping small businesses grow (technology as an enabler) and compete on the global stage; attracting and incubating more small, young, emerging ISV's and giving them access to the BT ‘sandbox' and to our Empower program; and reaching out to the ‘digitally excluded' and encouraging entrepreneurship.

The ICT Youth Challenge is one element. There's also good synergy with the Enterprise Insight campaign and the great initiatives with BT - TopCoder and Imagine Cup. Then there's the EEDA/Running the Gauntlet competition and the conversations underway with BA about an Innovation Prize and RSA Design Directions. Not to mention the chat I had with Virgin's innovation man a few weeks ago. Phew! Lots to do...

Really looking forward to the NESTA reception on 17^th May where we'll share some of our ideas. You should be able to sign up soon for that - watch this space. In the meantime you might want to sign up for NESTA's event on 8^th May about education and innovation.