On 29th September, e-skills UK hosted the second Delivering Digital Wales conference in Cardiff. The event, sponsored by OCR and the Open University, brought together digital stakeholders including employers; Welsh Government; IT professionals; and representatives from HE, FE and schools.
Keynote speakers at the event included Karen Price, CEO e-skills UK; Ronan Miles, Director of Customer Innovation Services BT and Chair of e-skills UK employer board for Wales; and Jeff Cutherbert, Deputy Minister for Skills.
In the Welsh Government’s Economic Renewal policy, ICT is identified as a priority sector for economic growth. e-skills UK has been working with the ICT sector panel to promote the needs of IT employers in Wales to Welsh Government and support a sector which, according to recent research from e-skills UK, could generate an additional £1.1billion GVA across the Welsh economy.
While the number of UK based IT professionals is now at a record high with an estimated 1,093,000 people, employers continue to experience difficulties in recruiting staff with the knowledge and skills they need, and employees report insufficient investment in skills.
Speaking at the event, Peter Sishton, Director of e-skills UK in Wales, said:
"Education is key to the future of the ICT sector in Wales. Investing in the skills of the existing workforce, making learning accessible to all IT professionals and companies, especially SMEs, and developing alternative entry routes to careers in IT is critical to ensuring future commercial success."
Back to top