ICT Offers £3 Billion Prospective Boost to South West Economy (August 2007)

ICT Offers £3 Billion Prospective Boost to South West Economy (August 2007)

The South West economy could be boosted by a staggering £3 billion over the next 5 years if businesses make more of their investment in advanced Information and Communications Technology – according to a new South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) report.

The report, undertaken by Adroit Economics, says that if the public sector were also to properly embrace the technology, the gains would be even greater. The Connecting South West partnership programme, set up 5 years ago by SWRDA, has helped many small and medium sized businesses to improve their productivity and competitiveness, in some cases transforming their business with new technology. New research indicates that today more than 21,000 such businesses have adopted broadband technology.

However, there is much scope to fully exploit existing investment, for example by increasing the number of businesses trading online. There is work being done to improve ICT skills in the labour market and to ensure there is a reliable supply of qualified advisors to support businesses. According to Fabian King, head of ICT at SWRDA, "the onus now is on companies to encourage a new type of culture and make this technology work for them".

Ivan Smith, Director, Beardsley Theobalds