Building a pipeline of tech talent

Emily Dreimann, DJRFF’s project manager, recently took part in a Tech Skills Roundtable hosted by The Developer Academy and Sheffield Digital. 

The digital skills gap: an ever-present head-scratcher of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A recent report found that digital skills are required in at least 82% of online advertised openings across the UK. At the same time, computing in schools is in rapid decline; the Roehampton Annual Computing Education Report, for example, showed that over a period of five years, the number of hours of computing or ICT taught in secondary school dropped by 36%. The outlook in Yorkshire and the Humber is more worrying still, with schools and colleges in this region reporting the lowest student uptake of computer science at GCSE and A level in the country.

It’s clear, then, that significant work is needed across all sectors to inspire young people and equip them with the skills needed for careers in the digital age. The Tech Skills Roundtable brought together tech leaders and educational representatives from across Sheffield to discuss how to address this challenge in the city. It was really encouraging to see so many businesses represented, and great to hear the perspectives and ideas of both employers and educators. The foundation’s “Get Creative with Data” course was lauded as an example of educational innovation in the city, and we were pleased to offer our input on best practice and advice on next steps.

With collaboration between education and industry a key tenet of the foundation’s strategy, this was an event that we were delighted to be involved in, and we look forward to continuing the conversation to build a computing curriculum that works for all.

You can read more about the Roundtable on the Sheffield Digital website.