John Higgins

Tenth anniversaries seem to be all the rage. This week marks IT Week’s, while earlier this month at Intellect’s annual dinner, I celebrated my 10th anniversary as head of the IT trade association. At the event we launched our President’s Report ­ a look at how the IT sector is performing, its contribution to the economy and what needs to be done to ensure its sustained growth.

Intellect’s research highlights how the UK’s flagship industries, such as aerospace, financial services, pharmaceuticals and creative media, are all heavy consumers of IT products and services, and derive demonstrable benefit from their investment in technology. However, in the public sector there is a widespread perception that technology projects are prone to failure.

Technology works. Everyday, technology saves countless lives and ensures the wheels of commerce keep turning. This is not news, but IT failures are, and they directly impact on people’s confidence.

Technology companies around the UK feel that falling confidence is reducing customers’ appetite to invest the money and effort in technology solutions. Yet this is at odds with research that shows that an investment in technology is likely to be one of the most rewarding an organisation can make.

Our sector is a major enabler of economic growth. According to the European Commission, the technology sector accounts for 40 per cent of Europe’s productivity growth, with the UK technology sector providing a higher level of productivity than the US.

In addition, the rapid growth of the sector and the speed at which it has become a critical part of the UK economy has not been adequately reflected in government policy. While it is almost impossible to imagine life without technology, the sector’s contribution to wealth creation is not always fully recognised.

The future prosperity of the IT sector in this country depends on rebuilding trust between vendors and customers. Technology companies must constantly strive to better understand their customers’ needs and this means increased collaboration and openness.

Relationships based on mutual trust enable real value-add, true innovation and ensure growth for both customer and supplier. In order to fully exploit new advances, organisations sometimes have to transform their business practices. In such cases, transparency between vendor and customer is vital.

Whether we like it or not, established business models are being rendered obsolete. However, at the same time, new market opportunities for the IT sector are emerging. These opportunities are forging relationships across the value chain: for example, between the telecoms, computing, entertainment, consumer electronics and education sectors, which are working together in a more collaborative and co-ordinated manner. These industries are currently going through a learning and trust-building phase, trying to establish mutually beneficial partnerships, and this must be fostered.

Deeper collaboration will bring many benefits: suppliers will innovate in new ways, will become more professional, will be better understood and trusted, and consequently will begin to exceed customer expectations.

The only way that the UK technology industry can continue to hold its own in the global economy is by working to build more trusting relationships with other sectors and the general public.

I hope that in 10 years’ time, when IT Week will be celebrating its 20th birthday, trust will be a given.