It is extremely unlikely we will see any IT companies following the example of financial services firms and carmakers in begging for state handouts. But it is nonetheless encouraging that Gordon Brown seems to be aware of the role technology can and must play in rescuing the economy.

The prime minister has taken to talking in depression-era terms as he continues his bid to save the world – ­ oops – ­ the banking industry.

Brown has on more than one occasion over the past month drawn parallels between last century’s investment in roads and railways and a 21st century priority for building digital infrastructure. His latest proposals highlight high-speed broadband networks and promoting jobs in technology industries.

This is all good to hear – ­ but forgive us a little cynicism while we wait for the proof. Only last year, the government as good as ruled out any state funding for next-generation broadband – ­ although there are rumours that technology minister Stephen Carter’s forthcoming Digital Britain review will look to find ways to better support private sector investment.

And just how many times have we been through government-backed initiatives to persuade young people to opt for a career in IT, with precious little success?

As Computing has pointed out repeatedly over the past year, history proves that companies which invest in IT are best positioned to survive a downturn. In what many predict will be the worst economic crisis for a generation, the same is surely true of countries.

Having the political will to promote our digital economy is undoubtedly a good thing, but we need fresh ideas and real momentum to make it happen.

So thanks, Gordon, for putting IT at the heart of your plans. Now let’s see some tangible actions to back up the politics.

We had hoped to resist the temptation to use the line: “This is not an IT strategy, this is an M&S IT strategy” when discussing Marks & Spencer’s IT transformation programme, but the opportunity was too good to turn down.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of valuable lessons that can be learned from M &S IT director Darrell Stein’s plan that can help other IT leaders drizzle some super-soft burnt sugar icing delicately over their whole fruit technology cake.

OK, we promise to stop now.

M&S has been going through a business turnaround for some time as it rides the rollercoaster of consumer tastes and high street decline. Much of what the retailer has been through will be similar to the challenges facing many recession-hit organisations in the coming months.

Stein’s “spend and save” plan is a great example of the importance of balancing the books when it comes to IT budgeting.

Experts such as Gartner and other analysts have extolled the virtues of redirecting cost cuts into IT innovation, but the reality has often proved harder to achieve.

At M&S, however, the firm is two years into a major IT change programme, yet at the same time operational IT costs have been reduced by 13.5 per cent in the last financial year and incremental IT spend cut by 60 per cent, with the overall cost of technology remaining flat.

Every IT leader needs to be looking for opportunities to remove unnecessary expenditure to free up funds for the sort of innovations that will be needed to remain competitive and come strongly out of the downturn.

Be honest ­- be brutal if you have to -­ but most managers know where there is slack in their operation that can be removed. Remember that one per cent cut from 10 areas is just as valuable ­ and sometimes more palatable ­ than 10 per cent taken from one project.

Computing has featured in recent months many of the technologies and techniques that can help to get through the credit crunch ­ virtualisation, outsourcing, a focus on customer-facing systems such as e-commerce, among others ­ these are all fruitful areas to investigate, and all used at M&S too.

With the economic crisis showing no signs of ending soon, the only certainty in the next 12 months will be uncertainty.

Clearly, financial services firms will be hardest hit, but the knock-on effects will be widespread.

However, past experience suggests that innovative users of IT will be best positioned to emerge the strongest from troubled times.

The constraints within which IT leaders will have to operate will test many. Capital expenditure will be tightly controlled, and considering that most major hardware purchases ­ and often large software licence deals too ­ are financed through leasing, with the cost of debt so high the options will be limited.

For small or medium-sized businesses, there will inevitably be a lot of interest in software-as-a-service, hosting, cloud computing and other online pay-as-you-go offerings that minimise or even avoid an up-front payment.

For bigger businesses, the spectre of outsourcing will loom large. There aren’t many major firms that have not outsourced at least some aspect of their IT operations already, and the potential for budget cuts and the conversion of direct costs to operational expenses gives a financial imperative that may be hard to argue against.

But there are plenty of technology options too. There is no silver bullet, no next big thing that IT leaders can turn to. But there are still plenty of current big things that offer significant potential savings ­ virtualisation, voice over IP and mobile working, to name but three of many.

Whatever route you prefer to choose, there is one action that all IT leaders need to take.

In previous downturns, there was much talk of bridging the IT-business divide to survive unscathed. Yet here we are again, and still the gap often seems as wide as ever.

There will rarely be a better opportunity for IT to work with its business counterparts to plot a route through all the current uncertainty. Let’s not waste this chance to cross that divide and close it once and for all.

Some things, unfortunately, never seem to change.

Yet again, the number of UK schoolchildren studying IT or for computing exams fell this year, even though we have undoubtedly the most technology-friendly teenage generation ever.

But we are not alone ­ Intel chairman Craig Barrett last week bemoaned the state of technology education in the US. Barrett pointed out that in fast-emerging economies such as China and India, there is a premium on engineering and technology teaching, and a student enthusiasm unmatched in the West.

Many in the IT industry say the problem comes from a lack of computing teachers, rather than the attitudes of children. For any subject, the enthusiasm and motivation of the teacher is key to students’ success ­- and there is a widely held perception that there are simply not enough IT teachers with the ability to enthuse their class.

In how many schools is the computing teacher an expert in another subject, such as maths, corralled into taking the IT class?

The difficulty is that this is a tomorrow problem for a today-obsessed government. The knock-on effect of a lack of technology education now will not hit home for another decade at least. In the short term, there is little chance that the target of 140,000 new entrants into the IT profession every year for the next five years will be met ­- and the UK’s technological capability will suffer.

There are, unfortunately, no immediate solutions ­ but we need a concerted effort from government and the IT profession to reverse the continuing decline in student numbers.

You can be a contrary bunch at times, you hardy IT professionals.

According to the latest research, your confidence in the current business environment is at an all-time low ­- although you are slightly more optimistic than the average worker.

Yet you are spending more on technology than ever before ­ – an estimated eight per cent more than last year.

How much would you spend if you were feeling good about the economy?

It’s a rhetorical question, of course. But anyone that has been in the industry for more than five years will remember the last great IT downturn in the post-dot com era and the short-term effect that had on their budgets and job prospects. Those with even longer memories and perhaps greyer hair will possibly recall the troubles of the early 1990s when IBM made what was, at the time, the largest corporate loss in history.

Technology clearly cannot be immune to the wider problems of the business world – ­ but as a profession you do seem to have learned some important lessons.

The fact that global IT spending is still increasing suggests there is a realisation that wise but prudent investment is a way to survive any downturn. Those companies that kept their nerve during the dot com bust are perhaps now some of the strongest around ­ – and their use of IT has been central to that.

But one thing that troubled times can also do is accelerate change where it is most needed.

The focus on evolving the skills profile of UK IT professionals is becoming even more acute.

The very best of you will be more sought after than ever ­ – and for the rest, the need to develop in areas such as business awareness and communication skills will become pressing.

Those who use their fears over the future in a positive way to turn themselves into genuine hybrid business-IT professionals will be the ones that emerge with most confidence.

The realisation is growing that data protection is not somebody else’s responsibility.

Moves to make individuals liable for the loss or disclosure of personal information held by public sector bodies or by companies are an inevitable response to the data loss scandals we have seen in recent months.

Until now, the Data Protection Act has focused responsibility on senior executives of an organisation, who are held to task for failures of staff under their charge. But the reality is that those workers are rarely motivated by the need to protect their bosses or their employer’s reputation.

When someone else takes the blame, why should you care if you make a mistake?

The most common concern of IT leaders looking to introduce data protection or risk management policies is how to create a culture that supports the rules and regulations put in place. Having a policy is one thing ­ making staff buy into it can be quite another. Ultimately, a culture exists only in the collective hearts and minds of a group of individuals, it cannot be imposed from above or through a set of rules.

From a government perspective then, legislation appears to be the only answer.

But no law will be effective ­ other than in increasing the prison population ­ without education to go alongside it.

Data privacy is perhaps the biggest single challenge facing the technology industry. Information security is not the issue ­ technical controls exist to secure the vast volumes of electronic data being generated ­ but the access to, and authorisation of the use of that data is about people, not technology.

For every government employee who inappropriately accesses citizen records (see www.computing.co.uk/2215705), how many would protest if someone did the same to their personal details?

People need to realise the impact on others of their actions, and to be given training and advice to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities. The best way to do that is to ask the question: What if it were you?

Government has been wholeheartedly – ­ if not always successfully ­ – embracing the potential for technology to improve services to citizens, but the politicians have some way to go.

As local councils across the country go to the polls today, few candidates can claim to have turned to the internet to boost their appeal to voters.

The leaflet pushers have been as active as ever ­ – the tree count for all the paper thrown straight into voters’ rubbish bins in the past month must be huge ­ – but this new-fangled computer stuff seems to have passed our potential representatives by.

In London, where the highest-profile election is taking place, none of the candidates looked at the possibility, for example, of using social networking to engage with voters; nor have they made much mention of IT’s potential in improving the citizens’ lot. Ken Livingstone’s jocular anticipation of chips in our heads may not win him another term as mayor, but his Tory rival Boris Johnson can hardly claim to represent the internet generation either.

How different things are in the US, where the battling Democrat candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have put the web at the centre of their campaigns. The forthcoming presidential elections will be the most internet-enabled we have seen.

Perhaps part of the problem lies in the culture of secrecy surrounding technology in parliament.

Only now, after a series of data protection scandals, has the Information Commissioner been given the go-ahead to spot-check Whitehall departments for compliance. And MPs want to improve transparency by gaining access to departments’ management information systems instead of having to wait for annual paper-based reports.

The internet ethos is built on openness ­ – not a quality often associated with politicians. If our elected representatives could grasp how IT can connect them with citizens, not only would they be closer to our tech-enabled culture, but perhaps more open with us all.

Have you noticed how often lawyers write articles for Computing these days? Legal issues are encroaching on the IT department more than ever as bad publicity from data protection disasters affects more and more organisations.

Regulatory compliance, privacy and legislation are an increasing fact of life for IT leaders ­ but they will never be your area of expertise. There will rarely be a better time than this to make friends with your in-house legal team.