Information Technology (Hansard, 17 January 1990)

§ 17. Mr. Dunnachie
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what training his Department offers to its staff in the applications of information technology.

§ 42. Mr. Ronnie Campbell
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what training his Department offers to its staff in the applications of information technology.

§ Mr. Forth
A great deal of training on and about IT is available for all departmental staff. This includes general awareness, specific application skills, specialist and technical training, all of which is reinforced and supplemented by "at the desk" tuition.

§ 64. Mr. Michael J. Martin
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the United Kingdom's current balance of trade in information technology.
300W

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
According to provisional figures published by the Central Statistical Office, the United Kingdom has a crude trade deficit (i) in electronics and information technology manufactured goods (ii) of £3.0 billion for the year to June 1989.
Notes:
(i) Exports (fob) less Imports (cif)

(ii) Principal Products of Activity Headings 3301, 3302, 3441, 3442, 3443, 3444, 3453 and 3454 of the Standard Industrial Classification (Revised 1980).

§ 61. Mr. Eastham
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how he proposes to support future academic research and development in information technology.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
DTI supports industrially relevant collaborative research in IT. Academic partners in projects are eligible for DTI support on the same basis as industrial partners under the terms and conditions of the research and technology initiative. However, funding for academic IT research is usually provided through the science and engineering research council and the United Kingdom funding contribution of EC programmes. DTI has no plans to change these arrangements.

§ 38. Mr. Bradley
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to provide a more detailed analysis of the balance of trade in information technology.

§ 118. Mr. Allen Adams
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will take steps to provide a more detailed analysis of the balance of trade in information technology.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The Government already provide a considerable amount of detailed information on trade in information technology. The Central Statistical Office (CSO) publishes details of United Kingdom exports and imports of electronics and information technology manufactured goods in the Business Monitor PQ series as well as in Business Monitors MQ10 "Overseas Trade analysed in terms of industries" and MQ12 "Import penetration and export sales ratios for manufacturing industry". More detailed information is published in Business Monitor MM20 "Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom". HM Customs and Excise has appointed a number of marketing agents who can provide further detailed analyses. Export statistics for computing services, including software, are published by the CSO in Business Monitor SDQ9 "Computing Services". Information on imports of computing services is not readily available because of the inherent nature of the trade.