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Digital Skillsfor a Connected Region

A Digital & ICT Skills Action Plan for Yorkshire & Humber 2005-9

David KayChair, Digital South Yorkshire

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Policy Context

This Action Plan takes account of• National Skills Strategy – ‘21st Century Skills’• Regional Economic Strategy (RES)• The Regional Skills Alliance• e-Region Plan• Sub-Regional Investment Plans• The Skills for Business network represented by

e-Skills UK & Skillset and their Sector Skills Agreements

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Sector Skills Councils

• E-Skills UK– Information Technology– Telecommunications– Call Centres– IT User

• Skillset– Film, TV, Radio– Interactive Media– Photo Imaging

• Creative & Cultural Industries (CCI - to be licensed)– Performing Arts, Fine Arts, Heritage

• Proskills– Digital Print

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Regional Advantage1 World Leading Position Capture market opportunity and differentiate the e-region through innovative digital skills programmes,

and share good practice with regional, national and international partners.

2 Skills Foresight Predict digital technology and application trends ahead of the ‘breaking wave’, and identify the learning and skills implications

3 Capable Learning Infrastructure

Invest in the development of courses, facilities and expertise in response to technical, market and societal change.

Relevant Opportunity4 Accessible Careers Open up digital career opportunities to young people (aged 14 to 25) through both proactive

engagement, informed guidance and practical experience

5 Learning Progression Develop the guidance and learning ladder to support entrants to the digital workforce from all groups, and to help existing employees progress their digital skills in their preferred learning styles

6 Relevant & ResponsiveProvision

Ensure that the channels for accessing learning and acquiring knowledge are capable of responding to the real-time needs of individuals, employers and communities with relevant provision

Economic Impact7 Productive Employers Promote and facilitate the application of digital technologies amongst all employers, and particularly

SMEs, to derive productivity and efficiency gains

8 Skilled Labour Pool Ensure the workforce has the right digital skills at all levels to meet the current and emerging needs of employers across all sectors

Connected Citizens9 Connected Citizens Cultivate the digital culture, equipping citizens with the digital skills to take full advantage of on-line

services, including employment, healthcare, learning, leisure and retail opportunities

Impact Measures

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Why ‘Digital’?• Reputation - We are potentially weighed down by the

historic memory of the ‘ICT’ acronym, with its technology and office heavy undertones offering little to creatives, to consumers, to children, or to citizens

• Reality – We need to embrace the evolving digital diversity of the early 21st century, underpinned by the maturing of the web as somewhere for everyman, the transformation of how organisations and people communicate and the arrival of convergent technologies and cross-platform services

• Resonance - Adopting the ‘digital’ word frees us from the nuts and bolts ‘ICT’ paradigm and empowers us to step forward towards a vision of true utility

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FinancialServices

Simulation

SoftwareHardwareDigital Media

Design

Healthcare Marketing

GamesSystems Support

Security& Tracking

User

Geek

ICT Creative

EXPERTISE

TECHNOLOGY

Other Sectors

Digital

Breadth of Digital & ICT Skills Impact

Office Roles Corporate

Website

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General Adoption

Convenience & Productivity

Use

SpecialistApplication

ServiceIntegration

ImplementationSupport &

Management

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6

5

4

3

2

1

E

TechnologyAdvancement

Product Origination, Design &

Development

SkillLevel

Type of Employment

Digital & ICT Skills Segments

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BusinessSkills

Skills for Life

Digital Skills

Skills for the e-Region

ICT &e-FluencyLiteracyNumeracy

CreativityTeam Working

EntrepreneurshipManagement

Sales/MarketingAccountinge-Business

Project Skills

OurFocus

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The Audience

• Over 125,000 people working in the Digital Cluster• Around 50,000 ICT and digital media professionals

working elsewhere across the private and public sectors

• As many as 900,000 Users of desktop ICT and digital media, ranging from managers to administrators

• A further 750,000 having less formal contact with ICT in their jobs in such as retail

• All citizens for whom ICT is recognised as a core Skill for Life. The Action Plan is predicated upon the ‘digital literacy’ entitlement of all citizens from early years to retirement.

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Business and Employment Change - South Yorkshire (1998-2003)

Sector 1998 2003

Bus Emp Bus Emp

CCM 483 3324 596 4256

Design 324 1503 420 2329

Electronics 186 3325 282 6302

ICT 932 3433 1166 5443

Print & pack. 271 2462 257 2632

Total 2196 14047 2721 20962

Source: ONS © Crown Copyright 2005

South Yorkshire CDI Cluster Businesses & Employment

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South Yorkshire: Employment

Figure 16 South Yorkshire Digital Sector Employment (1998-2003)Source: ONS © Crown Copyright

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

Num

ber o

f em

ploy

ees Print/Pack.

ICT

Electronics

Design

CCM

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Yorkshire Digital ClusterBusiness Sizes

Size 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003Micro (1-9) 90.6% 91.3% 90.5% 90.5% 90.6% 90.8%

Small (10-49) 6.9% 6.5% 7.1% 7.0% 6.8% 6.6%

Medium (50-199) 2.0% 1.7% 1.9% 2.0% 2.1% 2.0%

Large (+200) 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 0.6%Source: ONS © Crown Copyright 2005

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Peopleoutside

workforce

Currentworkforce

Futureworkforce

InformationAdvice

Guidance

DeliveryCapacity

Owner / Manager

DigitalPractitioner

ApplicationSpecialist

InformationWorker

Citizen

TARGETS

Digital Skills RequirementsY&H RegionalAction PlanFramework

User

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Digital Skills RequirementsOwner / Manager• Target audience – Owners and managers of

businesses; to succeed, the self-employed & freelancers need the same skills

• Trends – Virtual enterprise, e-commerce, home working, collaboration, security

Digital Practitioner• Target audience – ‘Engineers’ originating

digital products and services• Trends – New methods of software

development and lifecycle management (e.g. Service Oriented Architectures), technology redefining roles (e.g. in AV) re-emphasis of critical core disciplines (e.g. Maths), price implications of off-shoring

Application Specialist• Target audience – ‘Technicians’ who

manage & support applications in the enterprise and consumer markets

• Trends – Methodologies, remote system management tools, impact of enabling technologies (e.g. Web, VoIP, Wireless, Mobile), potential for an intermediate skilled workforce, increasing reliance on enterprise applications (e.g. ERP, CRM, e-commerce, websites)

Information Worker• Target audience – Workers, including

managers who use desktop tools to manage, research, analyse, project data and who originate digital communication

• Trends – Graphical and web replace traditional interfaces, use of web services to automate publishing, rising management / supply chain / consumer expectations

User • Target audience – ‘Professional’ users of

digital applications for workplace productivity

• Trends – impact of web on office life and administrative roles, growth of the ‘office’ skill set beyond the traditional tools, home and mobile working

Citizen• Target audience – Users of digital tools and

services for pleasure and for participation in everyday life

• Trends – Everything is web-centric, new modes of communication (email & messaging), more devices to master, economic opportunity on the web, e-services (e.g. health, government, benefits), integration of digital products in the home

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SFIA CategoriesSFIA CATEGORIES

SFIA Subcategories

SFIA Category

1 2 3 4

1 Strategy and planning

Information management

Advice and guidance

Business/IS strategy and planning

Technical strategy and planning

2 Management and administration

Supply management

Project management

Quality management

Resource management

3 Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing

4 Development and implementation

Systems development

Human factors Installation and integration

5 Service delivery

Education and training

Infrastructure Operation User support

6 User Business-IS alignment

Information handling

Use of ICT

Skills Framework for the Information Age

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ICT Career Channels

ENTERPRISE ROLES

ENABLING ROLES

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ENTRY LEVEL SKILLS

(NVQ Entry Level & Level 1)

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ICT Skills SpectrumHorizontal Mobility across technical disciplines

Hardware Networks Systems Programming Content User

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Progression & Specialism in ICTVertical Mobility from Entry to Executive

Cross-CuttingEnterprise & Enabling

Skills

L2

L1

Entry

L5

L4

L3

Generic

Specific

Generic

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Skill Type Learners in Employment

Learners in Education

TransientSpecialistSkills

Typically short courses meeting immediate technical and professional needs – perhaps driven by a project requirement or a product release. Transient specialist skills are continually evolving and need frequent updating.

Essential Marginal – but can be used as strong exemplars

EnduringSpecialistSkills

These underpin the transient skills, providing the foundation for entrants and their long term career development. They range from creative practice (e.g. storyboarding, design, drawing, programming, documentation) to process (e.g. quality control, configuration management, rights management). Teaching of underlying principles and practices can involve the tools and technologies of the moment – for example, using C++ to teach programming or Microsoft Office to teach workplace user skills.

These skills should have been taken on pre-work

Essential

TransferableGenericSkills

More general work and life skills vital for the work place, which may be taken from job to job but which require refreshing in new role and employment contexts. Vital transferable skills include both personal (e.g. communication, teamwork, learning) and business dimensions (e.g. finance, marketing, management, customer care)

These skills should have been taken on pre-work – but will benefit from updating

Essential

Skill Types for Creative & Digital Employment

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Evidence of Need - Businesses

A survey of 175 SMEs in the Digital Cluster (February 2005, The Sheffield College & Digital South Yorkshire) offers key insights

• 58% of companies expect an increase in technical employment over the next three years, whilst only 3% expect a decrease

• 54% report training is driven by technology change

• 31% identify productivity

• 82% train to increase capability not to gain a qualification

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Skill Type

DigitalEmploymentBy 2009

ANNUALNew EntrantsInc Churn

ANNUALExternal Training excl Entrants

ANNUALExternal KnowledgeEpisodes

Cluster Other Cluster Other Cluster Other Cluster Other

Manager / Business 19096 92720 1484 3197 2225 7765 3709 9136

Practitioner – ICT 25462 41209 1978 1421 2967 3451 4945 4060

Practitioner – Media 22279 6181 1731 213 2596 518 4327 609

Practitioner – Other 15914 2060 1236 71 1855 173 3091 203

Application Specialist 21218 51511 1648 1776 2473 4314 4121 5075

Information Worker 5305 206045 412 7106 206 4060 1030 20302

User 23340 566624 1813 19540 907 11166

Total 132613 966351 10303 33325 13229 31447 21224 39385

Growth in Employment & Training Demand

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Supply side failure – the Course PipelineA survey conducted in March 2005 of post-16 funded provision of ICT &

digital media in South Yorkshire showed weaknesses in the pipeline:

• Very low level of preparatory offers at Level 2 to feed the pipeline of requirements for network and specialist applications skills at Level 3;

• Over provision for new media in general courses at Levels 2 & 3• In stark comparison, a poor pipeline for web specialists with

insufficient at Levels 2 & 3 and negligible provision at Level 4 other than units in more general courses;

• Low level of industry relevance in a high volume of generic ICT at Level 3, feeding a potentially inadequate pipeline at Level 4 (e.g. Foundation Degrees);

• Imbalanced emphasis on office skills in User progressions from entry to Level 2.

It is suggested these issues are typical of the region and indeed of the UK. Whilst the local detail may differ, this Action Plan highlights the importance of addressing this application of funds and resources.

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1 6 5 1 10 8 1

23 13 10 28 23 175

22 38 21 26 28 18 29

4 1 2 9 16

16

12

8 1 11 19 12

Netwk Systems Program Apps NMedia Web Generic

5+

4

3

2

1

E

447 SY Total Practitioner Courses Key Not Applicable

3

Low High

25

44

28

119

182

24

23

44 7 21 10 6 10 18

27 23 10 9 9 525

13 4 16 8 4 2

ICT/PC Office Text Spread Data Present Media

5+

4

3

2

1

E

294 SY Total User Courses Key Not Applicable Low High

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108

116

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IT Qualifications England Yorkshire & Humber

Pass Rank

Completed ‘Pass’ Completed ‘Pass’ YH NW

GCSE - IT / CS 76135 43248 5366 3581 6th 2nd

A Level - IT / CS 24565 22561 1946 1808 7th 3rd

FE – IT Professional 81407 46044 6517 3848 8th 1st

FE – IT User 764029 415901 84689 44642 5th 1st

Graduates into IT 8765 624 7th 3rd

Supply side failure – the Learner Pipeline

The e-Skills UK regional report for 2005 raises concern about the regional ICT skills pipeline from Key Stage 4 in schools, through A Level and FE vocational provision to the number of graduates entering IT employment.

The regional evidence pinpoints the unattractiveness of ICT as a subject choice, from Key Stage 3 or earlier, which impacts interest at Key Stage 4 and thereafter as an A Level and FE choice. This cascade effect must be addressed in this Action Plan.

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Postgraduate Qualifications

Foundation Degrees

Hig

her Le

vel VQ

s

Level 3 VQs

Honours Degrees

AdvancedApprentices

A LevelsAccess to HE

Courses

Snapshot of Progression Routes (DfES)

NVQs + experience

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A level

Employmentin industries using ICT & Digital Media

14-16CDI

Track

FoundationDegree

HonoursDegree

AA

The Learning & Skills LadderIllustrating how the 14-16 programme opens up choice and opportunity

With credits

With credits

KEY AcademicEmployment

OtherFE

AA = Advanced Apprenticeship

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2005 Priority Actions10 high & 2 Medium

Action Title Target Area Owner Start Impact Group

ITQ in Industry Current Workforce LSC High 2005 Relevant Opportunity

e-Learning Habit Current Workforce LSC High 2005 Economic Impact

Improved Technology Application (My-IT) Current Workforce YF High 2005 Economic Impact

Digitally Innovative Teachers Delivery Capacity LA High 2005 Regional Advantage

Coherent Learning Ladders Delivery Capacity LSC High 2005 Relevant Opportunity

Train Specialist Trainers Delivery Capacity YF High 2005 Regional Advantage

Vendor Relationships Delivery Capacity YF High 2005 Regional Advantage

14-19 Pathways Future Workforce LA High 2005 Relevant Opportunity

Info Advice & Guidance Portfolio Info Advice Guidance ESUK High 2005 Relevant Opportunity

Adult Digital Literacy Qualifications Outside Workforce Ufi High 2005 Connected Citizens

Just In Time Knowledge Current Workforce YF Med 2005 Relevant Opportunity

JIGSAW Schemes Outside Workforce YF Med 2005 Economic Impact

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Action Title Target Area Owner Start

Impact Group

e-Skills Passport Current Workforce BL High 2006 Relevant Opportunity

Workplace as catalyst Current Workforce LSC High 2006 Connected Citizens

Subject Gaps Current Workforce LSC High 2006 Relevant Opportunity

Planning LSC Provision Delivery Capacity LSC High 2006 Relevant Opportunity

New Certifications Delivery Capacity YF High 2006 Regional Advantage

Specialist Facilities Delivery Capacity YF High 2006 Regional Advantage

Flexible Apprenticeships Future Workforce LSC High 2006 Economic Impact

Schools ICT & Digital Curriculum Future Workforce SFB High 2006 Regional Advantage

Digital / STEM Integration Future Workforce YF High 2006 Regional Advantage

Digital / Ind / Sci Convergence Future Workforce YU High 2006 Economic Impact

JIT Knowledge for Citizens Info Advice Guidance ISU High 2006 Connected Citizens

Under Represented Groups Outside Workforce JCP High 2006 Economic Impact

2006 Priority Actions12 high

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2006 Priority Actions13 medium

Action Title Target Area Owner Start

Impact Group

New Employment Models Current Workforce LSC Med 2006 Economic Impact

eBusiness Academy Current Workforce ESUK Med 2006 Economic Impact

Next Generation User Skills Current Workforce ESUK Med 2006 Regional Advantage

Service Certifications Current Workforce YF skills Med 2006 Regional Advantage

Emerging Technology Awareness Current Workforce YF e-reg Med 2006 Regional Advantage

Embedding Digital in Curriculum Delivery Capacity LA Med 2006 Regional Advantage

Learning and working on-line Delivery Capacity YF e-reg Med 2006 Economic Impact

User Skills Delivery Capacity Delivery Capacity LSC Med 2006 Regional Advantage

Education Business Partnerships Future Workforce LSC Med 2006 Relevant Opportunity

New Roles Future Workforce SFB Med 2006 Regional Advantage

Employer Endorsed Degrees Future Workforce YU Med 2006 Economic Impact

Enterprise Experiences Info Advice Guidance LSC Med 2006 Relevant Opportunity

e-Service Take-up Outside Workforce ISU Med 2006 Connected Citizens