Tough talk at CBI Conference

Delegates to the CBI's annual conference have been warned that most company directors don't understand technology or the emerging knowledge economy.

Venture capitalist Christopher Evans summed up the situation for his listeners this way: "Attitudes have got to change, and that includes you lot as well. Most of you have no idea what is going on in the knowledge-driven economy, which will be the leading way of creating wealth in the next 25 years."

BT chairman Sir Iain Vallence made the same point, with only slightly less force. "If a company director hasn't tried out the basics of e-mail or e-commerce for him or herself then, to my mind," Vallence said, "he or she should not be on the board."

i-FM reported recently on research published by the IoD which found that 50% of company directors had never been briefed on technology and Ð even worse Ð almost the same number never expected to be briefed.

Technology, both in terms of its applications and in appreciating its potential, looks set to become even more of a competitive differentiator than it already is.

Elliott Chase