Central issues at a critical time
13 November 2009
Debates about how best to ensure that British industry is competitive are taking on increasing importance as we near a general election.
With the world grappling to understand the legacy of a devastating recession, now is certainly an interesting time to see political parties attempting to woo the interests of manufacturing. Our love affair with the finance industry is not dead, this sector will always be a key part of our economy, but the recession has certainly dulled our affection for it, and manufacturing is benefitting from this shift.
Politicians are beginning to focus more on what we need to do to ensure that Britain is properly competitive. Skills is emerging as a key theme, with the ageing of the electronics industry’s workforce clearly a major challenge. If Britain is to remain competitive we need to ensure that our training provides the skills needed to drive the industry forward, engaging with emerging technologies in areas like composites, plastic electronics and low carbon technologies. Creating a workforce flexible enough to work in new technologies is a huge challenge, not least because there is so much uncertainty around what shape these new technologies will take, but there are things we can do to ensure that the process of how we develop and finance training is working smoothly, to ensure that students are being exposed at an early age to the diversity, scope and dynamism of the industry. Perceptions often drive career choices and we need to ensure that people’s perceptions of the UK electronics sector are correct.
This is a problem not only in the UK but throughout the western world, as Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, recently said at the CBI’s annual lecture: “Whether as a company, industry or society, we have to focus on developing the talent we're going to need. That probably means more investment in education, particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths. These are areas in which the UK, the US, the developed economies are not investing in the same ways as emerging economies."
Investment is tough to find at the best of times, but when faced with the high levels of public debt we currently have, how we use public money becomes even more important. Investment needs to be made in such a way that it will yield a high return.
The business environment is also of vital importance and against the backdrop of recession this becomes an even more fundamental element. The availability of finance, incentives for R&D and responsible regulation are all imperative if the UK is to compete in a global market. Again, these are areas that can be overlooked against a backdrop of needing to cut public spending, but they are ultimately areas where investment will grow British productivity.
Intellect’s latest State of the Sector report shows electronics production in the UK still in decline, with forecasts predicting a fall of 11.8% across 2009. The future is more hopeful though with predictions of moderate growth, around 1.4%, in 2011. With an election round the corner, Intellect is working hard to represent the industry; helping place these issues of skills, business competiveness and innovation at the centre of the UK policy agenda.
Ruth Porter, Programme Manager, Technology Markets, Intellect
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