11 October 2016
Empiric's Steve Brown says talent shortages in the tech sector are “intrinsically linked” with female under-representation.
A lack of skills and understanding could be holding back the implementation of new technological trends, says a new report.
Trends vs. Technologies, from Capita Technology Solutions in partnership with Cisco, includes a survey of IT professionals across multiple industries.
It reveals a strong disconnect between nine key trends and the ability of businesses to implement the technology to realise those trends.
The trends are: Big Data, digital workplace, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, wearable tech, robotics, cloud-based solutions, 3D printers and virtual reality.
Among the key findings is a disconnect between the apparent relevance of a trend compared with the number of decision makers who say their industry has the skills to implement it.
For example, while 70 per cent of IT decision makers said the internet of things (IoT) was relevant to their business, almost three quarters (71 per cent) said they did not have the skills to identify the opportunities for growth it offered, while 80 per cent said they did not have the skills to capitalise on the data received from IoT. Just 30 per cent said it was being implemented.
Similarly, nine in 10 businesses said Big Data was relevant to them, but it was being implemented in fewer than four in 10 (39 per cent) and 64 per cent did not have the skills to recognise how they could use Big Data in their business.
The most prevalent barrier to implementation of IoT was the perceived risk of security breaches, data governance and overcoming problems created by adapting legacy IT systems. This was also the top barrier to the implementation of Big Data, along with data governance issues and cost.
