The HCI Alliance, which last month conceded that nothing could be done to save the Home Computing Initiative (HCI), has organised a series of meetings between leading HCI providers to ascertain alternatives ways for the industry to survive.
Vivien Quinn, director of the HCI Alliance, said: "We are looking forward to what is possible post-HCI, and we are discussing the ways forward with anybody who wants to be involved. We want to know if it is possible to find a solution that meets everyone's requirements, [and one which] the HCI Alliance and the government can get behind." Although the meetings are at an early stage, providers believe that by pulling together in this way they will avoid swamping employers with a range of different schemes, but instead offer just one model.
One of the providers taking part in the meetings, explained: "We do not all want to confuse the market by having different tactics. If we sit down together we think we can agree on some common solutions." Each provider will then market its own version of the final product.