The Spanish government is to fight the mass exodus to the private sector of expert information technology personnel with a new policy that puts computer specialists on a higher salary than other civil servants on the same grade. The lack of computer specialists in the private sector together with the high salaries offered there is a serious problem for the government, which last year saw over 100 of its civil servants in the financial sector switch to private employment. The Higher Board of Computer Technology in Spain has also given the go ahead to three projects to improve Public Administration’s internal information and communications service. The first project, for the storage, processing and retrieving of office information, will, at a cost of $2.5m, record on optical disk all internal and external state documents. The second project will modernise communications systems in state and public administration bodies via transmission services, switching and telecommunications. This project will cost $374m over a four year period beginning now, while the third project, started in 1989, aims to change data processing organisation and procurement policy in an effort to standardise information technology in public administration.
