Postcards from the Edge : Regions

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.

Regional Innovation

claireoh — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:18:00 GMT

In case you haven't seen these - the East of England development agency (EEDA) - in conjunction with Library house - are hosting their Destination Growth event tomorrow with some great keynotes. Then Advantage West Midlands are holding their annual ICT conference on 22nd November. You'll find representation from Microsoft at both.

I'm off to another regional enterprise event this evening supported by SEEDA and Finance South East and addressed at women business owners and women entrepreneurs in the SE region. We all know that cash is vital to the success of any ambitious small company and we're very pleased to be working with Finance South East who were recognised this year as manager of a leading angel investor network.

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.