12 Mar 2010

Technology 'crucial' to UK future

The UK's technology industry is of "immense strategic importance" to the economy as a whole, it has been suggested.

Karen Price, chief executive of sector skills council e-skills UK, explains that 110,000 new people are required to join the professional technology workforce each year.

The services they offer to other business sectors can range from IT support to hosted systems.

Many company intranets may be built on hosted SharePoint installations, with third-party IT professionals taking the burden of managing the system away from the organisation.

"Technology holds the key to innovation, global competitiveness and improved public services," Ms Price says.

She adds that growth in technology employment is expected to outpace the UK workforce as a whole by four times in the coming ten years.

For organisations in any sector keen to support this economic growth, investing in hosted SharePoint environments could boost both IT employment and productivity within their own company.