Budget 2009: What the IT industry really wants

All eyes will be on Chancellor Alistair Darling come 12.30pm today, for that's when he and that little red, now quite battered, briefcase will be announcing how we will all be affected by the next Budget.

The speech will cover the usual suspects of tax, savings, duty, VAT and public borrowing among other things, in addition to outlining how the government plans to get the country out of the recession.

Many are also expecting the Chancellor to outline some technology-related plans to help Mother Nature by reducing carbon footprints and being more eco-friendly. Other have tipped that he may even discuss how to boost tech skills as the UK continues to eye super-fast broadband.

But, in the main, the view from businesses particularly in the IT sector is a pessimistic one. So, in the interests of lifting some of the doom and gloom away, we asked industry experts what they would like to see in the Budget if they had carte blanche.

Individually, small businesses may not register on many radars, but, given that there are more than 20 million of them in Europe, they're a collective force to be reckoned with. And a force that would be even more powerful if investment was more plentiful, whether that be access to funds, increased incentives, or a helping hand in other ways.

"We must keep the UK's entrepreneurial spirit alive, and support small businesses as an engine for change, with which the UK economy can emerge stronger," said Bill Murphy, managing director of BT Business.

He added: "We already support more than a million businesses in the UK and were still receiving up to 7,000 calls a week from start-ups a few months ago. It's important that the UK's innovators have the vital support they need... At times like this, there is a chance to nurture new creative industries."

Fellow large technology giant, Intel also, perhaps unsurprisingly, sees investment in technology as key going forward.

"Investment in IT is what will help towards rebuilding the economy. At Intel we firmly believe that you cannot save your way out of a recession and we continue to deliver the latest technologies to help drive greater efficiencies," said Graham Palmer, Intel's UK and Ireland country manager.

He added: "Intel fully supports the Government's plans to boost the digital industry. Currently 1.7 million families in the UK do not have access to broadband or a PC. We believe we're off to a good start in bridging the digital divide with the Home Access to Computing pilots, for which Intel has been a key partner. We would encourage continued investment to support the next phase of national rollout in order to engage the next generation of learning."

The challenges currently faced when it comes to investment, aren't just isolated to the UK, according to Pascal Matzke, vice president at analyst Forrester Research.

"Every government across Europe is faced with an unprecedented situation. People's jobs are under threat and social systems are being tested to their limits," he said.

"But there are some broader trends that are happening despite the recession, such as globalisation, an ageing workforce and IT becoming more embedded in everyday life. So it's a careful balancing act to set out the priorities around short term goals and coming up with a plan to make technology investment a true success... Most policy makers don't really have a holistic view."

Matzke added: "We depend so much on IT, it's utterly important to invest in it."

Asked which countries have managed to strike that difficult balance, Matzke was quick to come forward with an example.

"Barack Obama is a very good example," he said. "His latest stimulus package makes [money] available for companies and public sector organisations to really invest in technology not only covering short term projects. He has made technology and investment in technology a top priority of his administration."

Obama's love of technology has been well documented, with interesting debate sparked early on about whether or not he would be allowed to keep his beloved BlackBerry once his presidential term started.

Richard Turner, chief executive of Clearswift, echoed the need for more government support to turn ideas from vision to reality.

"[We need to] continue to drive internationalisation in the business... We need to embrace that entrepreneurism and to make Britain a place to come and do that," he said.

"In IT security we've had good ideas but not been good at turning these ideas into world leading companies. I think the government have a role to play in helping the internationalisation of those organisations."

It's not all the government's fault, however. Matzke argues that the industry also needs to do a better job of helping itself.

"It's partly our own fault. Every technology vendor has a difficult case to make and many of them approach this as if they are trying to sell something, rather than arguing a solid case with a 360-degree view across all bordering issues," Matzke added.

"It's time to build a positive vision for ICT in Europe."

Additional reporting by Asavin Wattanajantra, Benny Har-Even and Nicole Kobie.