Scotland’s digital technologies industry is going through a purple patch and the career opportunities available to our young people are immense.
从软件工程师到数据科学家, web developer to forensic computer analyst and many more, the industry offers a huge variety of highly skilled roles, and a bright future for those who choose this path.
超过84,000 people are currently employed in jobs such as software development, data, 数字机构, 电信, cloud and ICT services roles across the country and demand is set to increase as the world becomes ever more connected.
事实上, it is estimated that the industry requires an additional 11,000 individuals each year to fill digital technologies jobs in Scotland.
While some more established industries are experiencing a decline, 我们的行业正变得越来越强大. 然而,, we are struggling to recruit at the rate required and a shortfall in new entrants threatens to slow future growth.
Industry and public sector are working together to address the skills issue before it becomes a limiting factor for Scotland’s tech potential. One of the outcomes of the 技能 Investment Plan for our industry is the launch of Digital Xtra, a dedicated fund to support extracurricular computer science related activities for young people aged 16 and under.
It is now accepting funding applications for projects to be running between now and March 2017.
技能发展, ScotlandIS, 高地和岛屿企业, and Education Scotland worked in partnership to develop this new funding approach. The size of the Digital Xtra fund for 2016/17 is £250,000 and will be funded in its first year by Scottish Government’s
Digital Scotland Business Excellence Partnership. 在未来几年，预计该行业, 雇主和其他资助者将做出贡献, 使之成为一种可持续的方法.
Telling young people that an industry has good job prospects is not enough to change behaviour.
多年来, we’ve focused on teaching young people to be customers and consumers, 而不是创造者和创新者. Doing so anchors them at the wrong end of the digital technology food chain, and steadily pushes jobs and the industry overseas as we fail to grow our talent pipeline.
我们必须扭转局面, encouraging young people to engage with digital technology, making them comfortable and confident enough to take the first steps to becoming makers as well as users of digital technology. They get the message across that digital technology does not begin and end with switching on a phone or playing an Xbox, 这也不是一个“无聊”的选择.
实用, fun and challenging extracurricular activities are an incredibly powerful means of getting young people engaged and firing up their imaginations. 在教室的各种压力之外, there can be more freedom to think creatively and try things they might otherwise have thought impossible.
We understand the value of these projects and believe that every single child in Scotland should have the opportunity to get involved, 无论他们住在哪里.
A key priority for Digital Xtra is to address any inequality of provision by revising how funding is provided.
This should help overcome barriers and increase participation. A panel including representatives from industry, education and the Scottish Government will judge applications on their merit, prioritising those that meet the fund’s aims of scalability, 可持续性, 创新和物有所值.
This is not an additional funding opportunity for ‘business as usual’. When the deadline for applications comes round on 17 June we want to see projects that take extracurricular computing activities to areas and groups that do not normally benefit, whether that is because of social or geographic factors.
Changing the status quo also means getting new players involved. We want to hear from a wide range of organisations with the ability to deliver sustainable and long-term projects.
That could mean local groups with the backing of the community, 寻求创新的学校, or household names with the reach to bring computer science related activities to all corners of the country.
We won’t be able to fix the skills shortage overnight but by reaching young people at an early age and getting them excited about computing, initiatives like Digital Xtra have the potential to deliver real, long-term change and ensure the future success of our digital technologies industry.
Phil Worms is the Computing and School Project Lead, ScotlandIS.
来源: 博天堂入口人