Bill Gates: IT savvy needed to succeed

Now that he's phasing himself out of day-to-day operations at Microsoft, chairman Bill Gates has a bit more time on his hands. Apparently he's spending that time playing with huggable children's robots, making fun of old pal/rival Steve Jobs and penning columns for the BBC. In his latest turn as a scribe of the written word, Gates waxes philosophical about the skills needed to succeed in the modern world. "A solid working knowledge of productivity software and other IT tools has become a basic foundation for success in virtually any career," Gates writes. "Beyond that, however, I don't think you can overemphasise the importance of having a good background in maths and science." British spellings aside, Gates goes on to discuss the importance of collaboration and dispels the myth that software development is a solitary activity.

For the full column:
- head over to the BBC