IT trade body Intellect has met with leading members of the coalition government and put the case for putting technology at the heart of the nations growth strategy. Business Secretary Vince Cable and Communications Minister Ed Vaizey met with members of Intellect and other figures in the IT industry at a roundtable event which put forward the case for technology being used to drive the economy out of recession. John Higgins, director general at Intellect, has been very vocal in calling for a rethink over the role of technology in the economy. "This is not about special pleading for more expenditure on ICT. Promoting investment in ICT that fails to generate additional productivity benefits across the economy will not benefit the long term interests of the sector," he said. "The focus must be on the more efficient and effective use of ICT that enables innovation rather than simply the volume or scale of ICT usage. It is vital for the country to bridge the productivity gap," he added. Cable responded by saying it was important not just to look to emerging parts of the economy for growth but to established areas including technology. One of the major outcomes of the meeting was that Intellect will work with the government to promote and encourage the use of IT to help deliver efficiency and improvements across the economy. ARTICLE SOURCE: MicroScope.co.uk - Intellect tells government IT growth can help the economy