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UK business using ICT more effectively

According to a report commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry, UK businesses are using ICT more effectively. The report, The International Benchmarking Study 2003, is used to update government on the level of ICT use in the UK and compares UK businesses with the rest of the world.

The report shows that use of broadband is growing and more businesses in the UK are choosing to trade on-line and use ICT in more areas of business. The results also indicate that business has moved on from acquiring ICT to learning how to use it more effectively.

In the section on workforce skills, respondents were asked if the current ICT skills within their organisation met the needs of the business. 18% of UK respondents answered "completely", 59% said "mostly", 19% said "partly", and 2% answered "not at all". Taking the total percentage of those answering "completely" or "mostly" as a benchmark, the UK, on 77%, came in fourth behind Australia (78%), USA (79%) and Ireland (81%).

The UK was also the fourth most likely country to address an ICT skills deficit with training - after South Korea, Germany and Sweden.

Costs, not skills, were seen as the biggest barrier to implementing technology. UK businesses cited set up costs (43%) as the biggest barrier followed by running costs (26%), lack of time (16%) and lack of skills (11%).

When these figures are broken down regionally, the percentages of businesses citing lack of skills as a barrier ranged from 6% in Yorks and Humber to 17% in the West Midlands. Greater London was just above the national average with 13%.

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