September 2007

The UK's IT industry faces a potential skills shortage, according to the 2007 Developing the Future report, commissioned by Microsoft and co-sponsored by Intellect, the BCS and The City University, London.

The UK's IT industry is growing at five to eight times the national growth average, and around 150,000 entrants to the IT workforce are required each year. But between 2001 and 2006 there was a drop of 43 per cent in the number of students taking A-levels in computing.

In less than three years time, more than half of UK GDP will be generated by people who create something from nothing, according to the report, which sets out the key challenges facing the UK as it evolves into a fully-fledged knowledge-based economy.