Strengthening the Digital Talent Pipeline: Highlights from the Digital Futures Programme (DFP) Strategy Day
ALET welcomed our Digital Futures Programme (DFP) partners in for a strategy day on Friday 31 January, bringing together industry leaders and members of the ALET leadership and central team to discuss the future of digital talent. Attendees included representatives from Ark Data Centres, Amazon Web Services (AWS); CBRE; CNet Training; LMG; DataX Connect, VIRTUS and Yondr, as well as Kate Ambrosi, CEO at Baker Dearing Educational Trust. These industry experts, alongside ALET executives and the central team, took part in group discussions, focused on overcoming barriers to industry access, enhancing the digital skills pipeline and empowering students for successful careers in technology.
This collaboration between education and industry is the very essence of the UTC model, and this session aimed to look at ways of strengthening the partnership.
The strategy day aimed to build on the success of the DFP, which launched in 2021 at UTC Heathrow, but has now rolled out to all four ALET’s UTCs, serving some 1,100 students. The DFP aims to give students the skills and knowledge they need to follow a career in the digital infrastructure industry and help bridge a major skills gap. A major talking point of the day was the main barriers to the digital infrastructure industry in supporting UK economic growth – as highlighted in a recent TechUK report focusing on skills and planning.
The success of the DFP in just over three years was summed up by Kate Ambrosi, CEO of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, who opened the session: “I’ve rarely come across an industry working together with a UTC so successfully,” she said.
Kate outlined to our employers the valuable role UTCs play in our education system. “The UTC programme is growing 10% per year. Four times as many UTC leavers go into apprenticeships than average, and 50% go on to university. They are the education jewel in the crown of England.”
ALET strategic plan and development
Jo Harper, CEO of ALET, led the first session, where she outlined the Trust’s upcoming five-year plan, welcoming feedback from employers on how this plan sat with the needs of their particular industry (all UTCs work closely with local employers and industry experts to shape their curriculum. This ensures that students are learning skills that are directly relevant to the job market and future employment opportunities).
The discussion covered the need to train our students in the critical skills needed for a sustainable world, such as problem-solving, collaboration and resilience. Jo reiterated that within the plan: “We have defined our purpose: to prepare our students with the skills and knowledge for an unstable and unpredictable world.”
Sustainability emerged as a critical theme throughout the day, with the digital infrastructure industry’s role in essential services and its broader societal impact emphasised. A commitment to integrating sustainability into future curriculum and messaging efforts was strongly supported.
Allan Bosley from Ark Data Centres highlighted: “Our youngsters are the ones who will solve the problem of sustainability,” he said. “What we need to provide them with is a continued ability to learn. We have the responsibility to make sure these young people recognise this a big area both for our industry and for the way it impacts their daily lives.”
Filling the skills pipeline
The second session was run by ALET’s Executive Director of School Improvement (EDSIP), Wayne Edwards. The meeting focused on developing an employee engagement strategy over the next five years focusing on technical skills, curiosity and collaboration. Key points included the evolution of technical roles, drawing on points made in a recent TechUK report which stated the digital infrastructure industry will require an additional 60,000 workers in the UK by 2035.
“We can work with you on planning which skills are needed in which communities,” stated Wayne.
A workshop followed, where attendees discussed some of the skills they felt were needed in their areas. Each table were asked: Can you list the key technical skills and attributes that you believe students need to be successful in your industry? Do you believe these technical skills and attributes will change in the next five years?
Liz Dorey from CBRE said she felt it was important young people coming into the industry were ‘resilient’. “They need to show resilience in working cross-generationally – they have to be able to communicate with people of all ages so the work they do with employers here helps them with that.”
Martin Smith from CNET Training said that all incoming workers ideally need to understand the ‘entire ecosystem of a data centre’ – the mechanics, electrical side etc – as they will often need to ‘apply their skills in different ways and adapt to new technologies’. “They have to have the ability to be uncomfortable – but calm – in working under pressure, making informed decisions, and avoiding knee-jerk reactions in critical environments.”
The discussion also covered expanding the current programme to include other specialisms such as computing, increasing involvement in the Trust’s two secondary schools, and to raise the profile of the programme with students across the entire Trust. The goal is to address the skills gap and improve the programme’s effectiveness. Wayne concluded by asking the room to identify what the DFP is currently doing well to help narrow the skills gap and what could be done to improve it.
Some of the barriers to Partners taking on apprentices was identified, with a discussion on what ALET can do to support employers with this.
Winning hearts and minds
The third session, led by Nicola Tatum, ALET’s Head of Stakeholder Experience, explored ways to better connect students and local communities with the Digital Futures Programme (DFP) and UTCs. Discussions focused on increasing engagement through career fairs, primary school outreach, employer interactions, and parent events, alongside leveraging social media and industry insights to highlight career opportunities.
To close the day, Stacey Honnor, ALET’s Head of Marketing, led a brainstorming session on ways employer partners can help boost UTC recruitment via their communities and networks, and in turn spreading the word of the programme to a wider audience.
The event reinforced the importance of collaboration between education and industry in addressing the digital skills gap and inspiring future talent.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to making the event a success. We look forward to watching this continued collaboration grow.
