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Leader: Trust the private sector to train us?
How wise is it for vendors to take the lead?

By silicon.com

Published: Thursday 01 February 2007

Microsoft this week has announced its latest effort to facilitate e-skills training - this time targeting workers in Scotland and disadvantaged youngsters.

The news came on the eve of the company's Government Leaders Forum in Edinburgh, which included a parade of politicians speaking about how 'something must be done' to combat the digital divide, prepare for an ageing population and generally safeguard the workforce against the growing influences of globalisation.

Education and training - or what Gordon Brown liked to called "lifelong learning" in his keynote speech - are a big part of the strategy to keep the UK competitive with the rest of the world.

So Microsoft's e-skills training push fits right into this theme - no coincidence, surely, as it's their event.

This sort of vendor-led training - which usually includes donating software and curriculum to those being trained - is nothing new and Microsoft is certainly not alone in its efforts. But is it such a good idea?

Presumably we want a workforce and an IT workforce with a range of skills. Our annual skills survey shows shortages in both Windows and Linux - with Linux being in shorter supply.

And yet you can bet vendor-led training features how to use the company's products and technologies - and perhaps those of their partners. So more with the Windows, less with the Linux.

Microsoft made a big deal about the company's desire not only to pursue profits but also to encourage social and economic growth, with one executive saying: "We think private businesses have an important role to play in public issues."

But surely vendors can't be blind to their self-interest in training workers in their products. What better way could there be to create a new generation of paying customers?

And surely training led by a single vendor is not the way to create broadly skilled workers. We'd feel more comfortable with Microsoft's pronouncements if it was willing to partner with, say, a Red Hat or an IBM for an e-skills push.

One can't overlook the fact that the Microsoft-sponsored Edinburgh conference at which these topics were discussed was held at the Scottish parliament building.

Private companies have long influenced government, though typically through behind-closed-doors lobbying. This latest arrangement feels a little too cosy.