Technology got a share of the British government’s spending spree last
week. Research into computing was given a 拢25.2 million boost, out
of more than 拢2 billion of extra funding which has been promised by
the government for programmes that range from road building to heritage.
Groupware, computer programs which let several people work on the same
information at once, is to receive 拢11.7 million for three years’
research. The Safety Critical Systems Programme has an extra 拢6 million
for testing programs which control aircraft, railway signals and nuclear
plants.
拢7.5 million will be spent on open systems, computers which have
the same standards and so can be connected together. Of this 拢2.2
million is to be spent on ‘stimulation of . . . the market’, a departure
from the government’s normal policy of not-interfering with market forces.
