As a fresh faced young boy at grammar school in Newcastle-under-Lyme in the early 70s I recall being handed a stack of what they called punch cards on to which I was taught to apply binary coding to programme a computer. What seemed like hours later, I had a pile of cards at least six inches high which were then transported off to Keele University where they were processed. Days later I received a roll of paper on which was the answer to the simple multiplication problem I had programmed. It all seemed like an awful lot of effort for little reward and I’m ashamed to admit I went through the rest of my academic career with the nearest thing to a computer being my fountain pen!
Fast forward forty years and what do you have? Well, the UK’s ICT sector directly employs about one million people and some 27 per cent of UK jobs are now ICT-related. The UK is Europe’s leading market for software and IT services with a market value of 50Billion Euros in 2010 (EITO). The total IT & telecoms workforce in the UK comprise 1.5million people – 5 per cent of the current workforce (OECD). All of our lives are affected by developments in ICT and it’s hard to imagine a modern world without it. When I began my career in international business, the only way of keeping in touch with the office was by telex or cable. We marvelled at the first fax machine but now i take my Blackberry everywhere with me and am always in touch (sometimes it must be said to the intense annoyance of my wife).
Closer to home in Warrington, one of our local companies Warrington business Team Knowledge is celebrating a huge breakthrough in the USA after exhibiting in America at Microsoft Convergence in Atlanta. The company has recently announced that it has established a partnership with Avanade USA and secured an initial contract worth $330,000. The software firm, formed in 2002, specialises in working with and integrating to Customer Relations Management (CRM) Solutions and has grown steadily over the years, now being recognised as a leading supplier for Microsoft Dynamics CRM add-ons. We should celebrate this sort of success for our companies and I’m really pleased that their success was helped along by one of our local UKTI advisors, Kevin Finucane.
Last week UKTI also organised a European ICT Clinic at Daresbury Science and Innovation Centre. Specialist Commercial Officers from all over Europe descended on Daresbury Laboratory to meet local ICT businesses and share their insider tips on overseas opportunities, and you can view a selection of interviews from the event on the video below.
The event gave local companies the opportunity to meet Commercial Officers from eleven European countries – Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and Switzerland to discuss how they could take their products to market in Europe.
The event revealed that, despite the current economic climate there are still plenty of ICT opportunities in Europe, and that the UK was perceived as having particular strengths in certain ICT markets such as cyber-security, with their recognised expertise giving UK companies an advantage in new markets.
Particular areas of growth for the ICT sector include cloud computing, aerospace, intelligent transit systems, telecoms, green ICT, health, defence and security.
Our staff in embassies and consulates worldwide and the team of International Trade Advisors we have around the UK is a fantastic resource available to all companies wishing to grow their international business. They’re the too often unsung heroes of many firms’ journey into exporting and I’m really proud of my team in the North West. They have helped thousand s of companies grow internationally, helping them become more productive, more competitive, employ more people and boost the regional economy. We need more exports as a nation and the UKTI team is there to help firms succeed. If you want to grow your company internationally, give them a call.
3 comments
Comment by Zak posted on
Great article and video! Thanks
Comment by Zak posted on
Great article and video! Thanks
Comment by Zak posted on
Great article and video! Thanks