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FEATURE
COMMENT OPINION
Digital and IT skills:
Whole-career approach needed
EARLIER THIS year, research from UK
think tank, the Learning & Work Institute
revealed that the number of students
taking IT subjects at GCSE has dropped
by around 40% since 2015. Against a
background where the industrial sector
skills-shortage has been long
acknowledged, this is particularly
vexing. Within industry, there are many
organisations, companies and
individuals making a huge effort to
encourage young people into STEM
careers – but the message just doesn’t
seem to be getting through to
secondary school level.
Digital skills were already proving vital to
securing economic growth pre-pandemic;
and there is absolutely no
doubt that digital skills need to be front
and centre of the UK’s economic
recovery post-pandemic. However,
according to the Learning & Work
Institute’s research, 70% of young
people expect employers to invest in
teaching them digital skills on the job,
but only half the employers surveyed
for the study indicated that they are
able to provide such training.
While digital skills are important across
the board, they are particularly vital for
industry. Addressing this, SME
manufacturers, supported by Made
Smarter in their drive to digitalise, are
upskilling over 1800 workers. The Made
Smarter Adoption programme in the
North West has worked with more than
1200 businesses since 2019, supporting
them to introduce digital tools and
technologies to help boost productivity
and growth, and more recently to
navigate the impact of COVID-19.
Among these, 160 businesses have
secured matched funding to develop
projects using technologies that enable
them to integrate systems, capture and
analyse data, and even create
simulations of their plants and
processes. Others are using 3D printing,
automation, and robotics to solve
business challenges and meet
increased demand.
And it’s not just the technology side of
digitalisation that those engaging with
the Made Smarter programme are
looking at. SME leaders are also
navigating the cultural challenges of
digitalisation: good digital leadership;
bringing the team along on the journey;
effective communication of the benefits
of change; capturing the technical skills
and know-how of older workers before
they leave the industry; attracting new
digital talent into the organisation, and
plugging skills gaps.
The skills required for the UK to be
competitive in the face of ever-growing
digitalisation need to be developed both
from the ground up, through primary,
secondary and further education, and
through continuous training and
development in the workplace. In much
the same way as equipment should be
looked at from a whole-life point of
view, so should skills be viewed from a
whole-career perspective, with an even
more concerted effort being made to
engage people of all ages, across all
sectors.
AirUser Live
While the past year has seen us all
embrace digital communication, there's
nothing quite like live face-to-face
events. Taking place at the Ricoh Arena,
Coventry, on 1 December AirUser Live
will be 2021's only live UK event for the
compressed air market, offering visitors
a great opportunity to network and
reconnect with the sector's major
players and industry bodies.
As well as a comprehensive seminar
programme including keynote sessions
from the British Compressed Air
Society and the British Compressed
Gases Association, the event will feature
a tabletop exhibition, giving visitors the
opportunity to discover all the latest
products and services under one roof.
If you represent an industry body or
association and are interested in
presenting at AirUser Live please email
cstonestreet@westernbusiness.
publishing
Charlotte Stonestreet
Managing Editor,
Industrial Plant & Equipment
Charlotte
Stonestreet
SME leaders
are also
navigating the
cultural
challenges of
digitalisation
efficiencies
Managing Editor
Charlotte Stonestreet
cstonestreet@westernbusiness. media
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