§ Mrs. MayTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the terms of reference for Action 2000. [16134]
§ Mrs. RocheUnder the Action 2000 initiative, there will be an Advisory Board to assist the Chairman in providing the advice detailed in the list of his responsibilities, and a separate company to carry out day-to-day operations, including implementation of a 51W programme of activities. The activities should be based on an assessment by the Board of what is needed to minimise the extent of failure with significant consequences by private sector business systems, including both IT systems and electronically controlled equipment using embedded software. In particular, the assessment should assess what external help businesses need, what help is already available from commercial or other sources, and what more needs to be done. It will also identify organisations which can participate in delivering additional help, and indicate where some element of public money is needed to achieve this.
The activities are expected to fall under the following broad headings:
- Promotion—activities to promote the importance of the issue and signpost help,
- Advice and Guidance—identifying and providing available best practice advice and guidance,
- Assessment Schemes—providing self-assessment conformance tools for users, consultants and suppliers,
- People and Skills—develop and implement ways to address the current shortage of skilled IT staff,
- Tools and Techniques—make available details of tools, techniques, products and services,
- Practical help and advice for small and medium sized businesses.
One of the tasks of the Company will be to encourage businesses and other organisations to participate in devising or delivering the activities which are needed.
§ Mrs. MayTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if the post of Chairman for Action 2000 was advertised; and how many job applications were received.[16135]
§ Mrs. RocheThe post was not advertised, because the Government wished to appoint a Chairman as rapidly as possible in view of the urgency of the problem.