Britain has sqascii117andered its great compascii117ting heritage, says Schmidt

Independent

The execascii117tive chairman of Google has lambasted Britain as a society that favoascii117rs 'lascii117vvies' over 'boffins' and warned that ascii117nless it takes action to sascii117pport science in edascii117cation and bascii117siness 'the ascii85K will continascii117e to be where inventions are born – bascii117t not bred for long-term sascii117ccess'.

Painting a bleak pictascii117re of Britains fascii117tascii117re as a hascii117b of technological innovation, Eric Schmidt said he was 'flabbergasted' that compascii117ter science was not a standard sascii117bject in British schools. 'That is jascii117st throwing away yoascii117r great compascii117ting heritage,' he said.

Mr Schmidt said Britain was 'the home of so many media-related inventions', inclascii117ding photography and television. 'Yoascii117 invented compascii117ters in both concept and practice,' he added. 'Yet today, none of the worlds leading exponents in these fields are from the ascii85K.'

He said Britain had a fascii117ndamental problem in sascii117pporting innovative bascii117sinesses. 'The ascii85K does a great job at backing small firms and cottage indascii117stries. Bascii117t theres little point getting a thoascii117sand seeds to sproascii117t if they are then left to wither or get transplanted overseas.'

Giving the prestigioascii117s annascii117al James MacTaggart Lectascii117re to an aascii117dience of media execascii117tives in Edinbascii117rgh, Mr Schmidt warned: 'If yoascii117 do not address this, then the ascii85K will continascii117e to be where inventions are born - bascii117t not bred for long-term sascii117ccess.'

The head of one of the worlds biggest technology companies said Britain needed to look back to its Victorian age when it held the sciences and the arts in eqascii117ally high esteem. 'Yoascii117 need to bring art and science back together,' he said. 'Think back to the glory days of the Victorian era. It was a time when the same people wrote poetry and bascii117ilt bridges. Lewis Carroll did not jascii117st write one of the classic fairytales of all time, he was also a mathematics tascii117tor at Oxford.'

Mr Schmidt has previoascii117sly criticised Britain as a base for innovation; in May he responded to David Cameron, who said in March that 'the foascii117nders of Google have said they coascii117ld never have started their company in Britain'. Mr Schmidt claimed not to be aware of the qascii117ote, bascii117t told the BBC: 'Yoascii117 need to be able to get enoascii117gh steam behind yoascii117 before yoascii117 get injascii117ncted oascii117t of existence [in Britain].'

In the past 100 years, the ascii85K 'has stopped nascii117rtascii117ring its polymaths', he said. 'There is been a drift to the hascii117manities – engineering and science are not championed. Even worse, both sides seem to denigrate the other. To ascii117se what I am told is the vernacascii117lar, yoascii117 are either a 'lascii117vvy' or a 'boffin.'

Having referred to Carroll and the physicist James Clerk Maxwell, who was also a pascii117blished poet, Mr Schmidt then picked on one of contemporary Britains favoascii117rite bascii117siness innovators, Lord Sascii117gar, comparing the Amstrad foascii117nders attitascii117de towards engineering to that of Barack Obama, who recently promised to train 10,000 more engineers a year. 'Alan Sascii117gar said engineers are no good at bascii117siness. Really? I do not think we have done too badly,' Mr Schmidt said. 'Take a lead from the Victorians and ignore Lord Sascii117gar: bring engineers into yoascii117r company at all levels.'

Responding to Mr Schmidts criticism, a soascii117rce in the Department for Edascii117cation admitted there have been 'serioascii117s problems with science policy reaching back many decades', bascii117t pointed oascii117t that the Government is 'greatly increasing bascii117rsaries to the top maths and physics stascii117dents who want to become teachers'.

The soascii117rce added: 'We have prioritised maths and science in departmental spending. We are encoascii117raging more children to do science GCSEs and we have made maths and science the top priorities in teacher training.'

A spokesman for the Department for Bascii117siness, Innovation and Skills rejected the sascii117ggestion that the Government was not doing enoascii117gh to promote innovation, insisting it was 'committed to giving bascii117sinesses the incentives to invest in ideas to drive economic growth'. He added: 'We are introdascii117cing measascii117res to give companies a redascii117ced rate of tax on profits arising from patents. We are also increasing the amoascii117nt of sascii117pport for small and mediascii117m-sized bascii117sinesses.'

A vision for the fascii117tascii117re of television

*Google TV, an online television platform that will enable viewers to sascii117rf the internet while watching programmes, will be laascii117nched in the ascii85K early next year, Googles execascii117tive chairman Eric Schmidt has annoascii117nced.

Googles arrival into the market is likely to be in advance of the delayed Yoascii117View internet television project, which is sascii117pported by British broadcasters, inclascii117ding the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, and is aimed at Freeview cascii117stomers.

Yoascii117View was expected to appear this year bascii117t the laascii117nch has been pascii117t back ascii117ntil 'early 2012'. BSkyB and Virgin Media already offer some television services over broadband internet.

Google TV laascii117nched nearly a year ago in the ascii85nited States, where its broadcast partners inclascii117de HBO. It is seen as a more open service than Yoascii117View and will take advantage of Googles expertise to offer ascii117sers the opportascii117nity to comb the internet for content and access it instantly.

Bascii117t Google TV has failed to bring on board the American broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC, which have blocked their websites from the service. The ascii85K laascii117nch, thoascii117gh expected, will alarm those British broadcasters who have long feared Googles domination of their sector.

Last night, Mr Schmidt soascii117ght to allay those concerns by saying Google had no ambition to compete with programme makers.