February marked the publication of the digital skills report from the House of Lords; Make or Break: The UK’s Digital Future.
Presented as a call to action for the next government the report aimed “to consider and report on information and communications technology, competitiveness and skills in the United Kingdom”.
Education featured highly within the report and there was concern that the UK will be left behind in this digital era, something that has been echoed by others in the past; Google CEO Eric Schmidt has previously stated that the UK hadn’t embraced its ‘computer heritage’ to the detriment of economic growth.
As the digital skills demanded for industry increases it’s only natural that the education sector comes under scrutiny; “Universities should ensure that all graduates are digitally competent.” Jisc’s current Building Digital Capability project helps to address these issues by promoting effective use of digital technologies in education, at the recent Digifest event delegates in sessions were asked to reflect on digital capabilities within their institutions. The variations on how individual universities are responding to these issues were surprising, and shows we still have a lot more to accomplish in this area.
As a learning technology team we’re always keen to develop and support institutional initiatives around digital capabilities. Should you wish to find out more or see how we can assist please get in touch.