TECH SKILLS PARTNERSHIP

Help us create the technology skills the UK needs

To develop new ways to create jobs, raise skills and drive economic growth, the government is inviting employers to create partnerships and bid for funding through the Employer Ownership of Skills Pilot.

In response, an Industrial Partnership for the Information Economy is being developed by us – a growing group of employers that includes Accenture, BT, Blitz Games, Cisco, HP, Microsoft, Tata Consulting Services, O2, John Lewis, Direct Line Group, Government, the Metropolitan Police, Morrisons, National Grid and UBS.

We have asked e-skills UK to co-ordinate our work.

Our aim

Our aim is to accelerate growth across the economy through the faster creation and better exploitation of technology.

We’re collaborating to create new ways to underpin the UK’s global leadership in technology-enabled innovation and help employers, especially smaller companies, secure the skills they need to grow.

> Find out more

Get involved

If you’re an employer or organisation with an interest in technology skills, we want you to get involved. Through this site, you can:

• Offer your views and feedback on our plans
• Join the partnership
• Align your own response to the Employer Ownership of Skills Pilot with ours

> Get involved

About us

An open letter to employers and organisations with an interest in technology skills

In response to the exciting opportunity offered by government to work in strategic partnership with key sectors – including a specific focus on the Information Economy – we’re asking employers and other organisations with an interest in technology skills to join us, to create a national, cross-sector Industrial Partnership for the Information Economy.

Not only is the technology sector a major contributor to GDP and growth in its own right, but the ability of other sectors to exploit technology effectively is a critical differentiator in all-factor productivity between the major economies.

Our strategic aim therefore is to accelerate economic and employment growth, in companies of all sizes, by creating the skill base to deliver:

• Global leadership in high value software and services.
• Global leadership in technology-enabled innovation in other strategic growth sectors.
• A transformational shift in the exploitation of technology by smaller companies.

Our proposals are likely to focus on:

• Establishing a greatly strengthened pipeline of talent into high value digital economy careers, with a particular focus on new and high growth roles. This will leverage the expertise of the i-generation , increase capability within SMEs and address the current gender imbalance in the technology industry.
• Setting new standards for apprenticeships, including at degree level, and helping employers offer a rapidly expanding range of high quality programmes that meet their business needs.
• Enabling employers to define and recognise the educational courses and training they value – from full-time students in schools and universities to specialist training for those in work. This will focus on high quality work experience and pre-employment training.
• Creating an effective skills ecosystem for the Information Economy, by coordinating collaborative action between global, national and local employers and throughout supply chains; between industry, education and training providers; and with key stakeholders with an interest in our strategic aims.

If you have an aligned agenda or could benefit from our support, we’re keen to work collaboratively with you. We’ve asked e-skills UK to co-ordinate our work on this.

So whether you’d like to join the development of a national partnership or link our work with your own proposals for local partnerships or new skills investments, please contact us.

Initially, you can provide your views and feedback through our survey.

> Complete the survey now

Who’s Involved

We’re a growing group of employers

If you’d like to get involved, please find more information here.

Olly Benzcry	Managing Director, UK & Ireland	Accenture
Philip Oliver	CEO	Blitz Games
Clive Selley	CEO BT Innovate & Design	BT
Christine Hodgson	Chairman	Capgemini
Phil Smith	VP and Chief Executive, UK & Ireland	Cisco
Angela Morrison	CIO	Direct Line Group
Andy Green	Chair	e-skills UK
Andy Nelson	Government CIO; & CIO, MOJ	Government
Craig Wilson	Managing Director and VP, UK and Ireland	HP Enterprise Services
Paul Coby	IT Director	John Lewis
Ailsa Beaton	Director of Information	Metropolitan Police Service
Michel Van der Bel	MD, UK and VP, MS International	Microsoft
Ben Wishart	Director	Morrisons
David Lister	CIO	National Grid
Ronan Dunne	CEO	O2
Gayna Hart	MD	Quicksilva
Catherine Doran	CIO	Royal Mail
A. S. Lakshminarayanan	Vice President and Head – Europe	Tata Consultancy Services
Richard Thwaite	MD CIO, Global Asset Management IT	UBS

Get Involved

We value your feedback

Thanks for your interest in getting involved. Initially, you can provide your views and feedback through our survey – it should only take 10 minutes of your time.

The survey asks, at a high level, which IT skills you think are a priority and where we should focus. If you’re interested in apprenticeships, some detailed questions then follow, to understand what is currently inhibiting uptake, and what we can do to address this.

All input will be gratefully received – please feel free to answer only the questions of interest to you.

What you tell us will inform the development of our Industrial Partnership proposal, an outline of which will be submitted at the end of March. If, in the questions, you say you are willing for us to contact you, we will keep you informed of our progress.

> Complete the survey now

FAQ

Learn more about us

What is the Industrial Partnership for the Information Economy?

In line with the opportunity offered by government to work in strategic partnership with key sectors, employers have asked e-skills UK to coordinate the development of a national, cross-sector Industrial Partnership for the Information Economy.

This will bid into the Employer Ownership of Skills Pilot for support for ambitious end-to-end skills solutions for the sector. The pilot will co-invest in projects in which employers are also prepared to commit their own resources.

What are the Industrial Partnership’s aims?

Our proposals are likely to focus on building the skill base to deliver:

• Global leadership in high value software and services.
• Global leadership in technology-enabled innovation in other strategic sectors.
• And a transformational shift in the exploitation of technology by smaller companies.

Will the Industrial Partnership work nationally or locally?

Complementing the aims above, the partnership is keen to work with and support local proposals where it can add most value, seeking out clusters with the potential for significant growth and/or global success, and identifying those which could most benefit from support and engagement with the national partnership.

What is the Employer Ownership of Skills Pilot?

Employers are invited to bid into a £340M competitive Employer Ownership of Skills Pilot fund, designed to help them invest in their current and future workforce in England. The purpose is to create jobs, raise skills and drive economic growth. Government will co-invest in projects in which employers are also prepared to commit their own resources.

The latest round of this Employer Ownership Pilot (Round 2) offers employers help to recruit and train staff with the skills they need for the future. In particular, ambitious bids are invited from employers willing to work together to deliver skills solutions aligned to a broader industrial strategy.

There are two elements to Round 2:

1. Contribution to training costs. For example, government contribution for apprenticeship training could be directed to employers / groups of employers rather than via training providers, giving employers more control over content and quality.

2. Contribution to infrastructure solutions. For example, this could enable a cross-sector collaboration of employers to establish a long term Industrial Partnerships which takes wider responsibility for skills development for the good of the sector as a whole.

Applications have to be submitted by 28 March 2013. The funding prospectus is available online at www.ukces.org.uk/employerownership.

What is e-skills UK?

e-skills UK is a not-for-profit, employer-led organisation whose mission is to ensure the UK has the skills it needs to thrive in the global information economy. Its Boards bring together the CEOs of leading employers in the IT sector, CIOs of employers across all sectors, and representatives of small companies.

Its work is focused on three objectives:

1. To health of the pipeline of talent into technology intensive careers.

2. The development of those entering and working in technology intensive roles.

3. The digital capability of individuals and businesses in every sector.

Successes include its work on careers and gender in education, such as www.bigambition.co.uk and Computer Clubs for Girls (CC4G); the outstanding employment and academic outcomes of its IT Management for Business (ITMB) degree; action to improve the uptake of apprenticeships and access to high quality training; and programmes to help small companies make the most of technology for business (the Business IT Guide) and to help individuals get the digital literacy skills the need, in partnership with Go ON UK.

e-skills UK is licensed by government as the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology, and was rated ‘outstanding’ in the latest re-licensing of Sector Skills Councils.

How can I get involved?

If you would like to get involved or keep us informed about your own plans, please complete our survey or contact us.

Contact Us

Please contact us if you have any questions

Initially, you can provide your views and feedback through our survey – it should only take 10 minutes of your time.

1 Castle Lane
London
SW1E 6DR

Telephone: 0207 963 8920
Fax: 0207 592 9138

techskillspartnership@e-skills.com