The government, schools and other organisations must take action now to address the IT skills shortage in Britain, Carrie Hartnell, the programme manager of Intellect has said.
Writing on Computing.co.uk, she noted that research such as the recent study by the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing suggests that the skills deficit in the industry is likely to worsen.
The study forecast that demand for IT professionals will increase by up to 15 per cent in the next eight years, while observing that the number of students planning a future in the sector has fallen by 50 per cent since 2001.
To counter this problem, Ms Hartnell stated that perceptions about the sector and the teaching of IT in schools needs to be changed.
In addition, she recommended that better training schemes are introduced to ensure that those who do enter the industry are equipped with the right skills.
Concerns have also be raised recently about the lack of women working in IT - the manager of the British Computer Society's Women's Forum has said that schools should do more to encourage girls to consider a career in the sector.
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