The heads of British industry undervalue IT skills, according to a Microsoft survey covering 500 British business chiefs. That’s brought a rebuke from Bill Gates, who told the BBC, "One of the most important changes of the last 30 years is that digital technology has transformed almost everyone into an information worker. In almost every job now, people use software and work with information to enable their organisation to operate more effectively." The survey comes a year after the Leitch Report about the skills gap in the UK economy. According to industry leaders surveyed by Microsoft, the most important skills are team working and interpersonal skills, initiative, analyzing and problem solving, verbal communication, personal planning and organizing, flexibility, followed by IT skills. That’s not to say Gates denigrates teamwork. In an article for the BBC he highlighted its importance in his own business. “Software innovation, like almost every other kind of innovation, requires the ability to collaborate and share ideas with other people, and to sit down and talk with customers and get their feedback and understand their needs."
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