PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

  So what are the skills that employers need in the next decade? That was the question posed by the UK Government’s Department for Education and the Skills and Productivity Board to Warwick University’s Institute for Employment Research and the think-tank RAND Europe. Their recent research report is an important read not only for businesses in the UK that are facing a talent shortage but also for those policymakers who seem unable or unwilling to consider new ways of delivering the digital skills that are needed across all industries in order for them to remain competitive. As with other studies examining the future needs of the labour force, the vital importance of digital skills is again highlighted as being key to the competitive advantage of organisations in a range of sectors. These skills include knowledge of artificial Intelligence, automation of processes, 3D printing, cloud-based computing,  information technology and communications systems, and the Internet of Thing...

As we emerge out of the pandemic, it is clear that the use of digital has become even more important in the home and the workplace.  During the last eighteen months and as the country went into lockdown time and time again, the use of digital tools became critical in being able to work away from the office, to maintain relationship with friends and family and in containing and managing the pandemic itself through track and trace. Yet despite this, not everyone has the digital skills to operate in this environment. As the latest Essential Digital Skills report from Lloyds Bank shows, whilst 42 million adults are able to communicate, transact, problem solve, stay safe online and handle information, 21% of the UK population (roughly 11 million people) lack the essential digital skills for everyday life.  In other words, 10 million people are not able to access the Internet themselves and lack the most basic digital tasks, 6.5 million cannot connect to Wi-Fi by themselves and 4.9 ...

  As we move into a new economy where there will be considerable changes to the way we manage work after the pandemic, various studies are beginning to focus on the increasing importance of soft skills within the economy.  Certainly, some have suggested that during the lockdown, skills such as empathy, flexibility and self-determination, have become increasingly important in managing not only ourselves during a challenging time but also others who work with us. This is not surprising as unlike the hard subject-related skills we teach students in schools, colleges and universities, soft skills are more to do with improving an individual’s ability to listen well, communicate effectively, be positive and manage conflict.  They are also about building trust, working well with others and managing time effectively. In other words, these are the type of skills that many of us would assume that most organisations would be developing amongst their employees every day.  The go...

  As we bid good riddance to 2020 and look forward with optimism to a very different year thanks to the recent approval of the Oxford vaccine, the performance of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will be key to any economic recovery.  That is why the recent report from the Enterprise Research Centre - The State of Small Business Britain – is an important examination of the impact of Covid-19 on businesses but also, more importantly, examines the challenges that policymakers need to focus on in 2021. The first key issue is that of digitisation and it is not surprising that the report notes a shift in the adoption of advanced technologies with around half of SMEs introducing new digital technologies as a priority in the last 12 months. In addition, two out of five stated they had made some changes in their use of digital in response to the pandemic, with many adopting technologies they had never previously used.  Obviously, it could be argued that whilst this trend...

Published this month, “The “ Building The Future We Need ” report from techUK - the UK’s leading technology membership organisation - sets out some of the digital challenges that Wales faces and how these can be addressed by the public and private sectors to benefit the economy over the next few years. According to the report, the information technology sector in Wales employs around 24,000 people and is predicted to add around £1.5 billion to the economy over the next five years. But despite this impact, there are considerable challenges for the nation in terms of maximising the potential of the digital economy.  In terms of digital infrastructure, residential superfast broadband coverage in Wales had reached 93% by 2019 with 4G data services at 58% for geographical coverage by all operators.  In addition, Superfast Cymru had provided almost 733,000 premises across Wales with access to fast fibre broadband and, as a result of this work, superfast broadband coverage has more t...

It’s not often you come across reports that you think everyone in the business community in Wales should read cover to cover.  However, “ Wales 4.0 - Delivering Economic Transformation for a Better Future of Work ” by Cardiff University academic Professor Phil Brown is definitely one of those rare jewels that fall into that category. I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Phil and we discussed, as the report does, how the rapid advances in digital innovation - defined as including any novel products and services, or more productive ways of doing existing things, along with yet imagined things based on digital technologies - were likely to impact the economy and future of work in Wales. It is a superb report not only because of the level of detailed analysis but because of its boldness in rejecting the normal status quo approach of just doing what others do. Instead, it challenges Wales to ‘dare to be different’ and to come up with new approaches that will lead to greater prosp...

Are digital skills optional for businesses to succeed? That is the question posed by a recent report commissioned by the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). As various studies have shown, digital skills are becoming increasingly important for businesses to develop competitive advantage, retain and attract talent and to develop innovative ways of working. Yet, we are still not completely sure of the demand for digital skills which can vary from basic word processing skills to knowledge of highly specific software.  By analysing millions of online job adverts in the UK, this study attempts to address this issue and give pointers as to the future policy support needed to enhance digital skills demand and provision across the UK. The first finding from the study is that employers are increasingly requesting baseline digital skills - such as Microsoft Office – as essential for entry into jobs with over three quarters of employment opportunities withi...

With skills being seen as the top priority by chief executives in every business survey carried out in recent times, the latest “The Future of Jobs” report from the World Economic Forum is required reading for anyone associated with developing our economy. Not surprisingly, the study focuses on the impact of technological changes on employment and the transformations being faced by a range of different industries. It states that whilst there are threats that could negatively affect competitiveness and jobs as the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution begins to take shape, there are also great opportunities for developing better and more productive jobs that could improve the quality of life in all economies. In fact, whilst 75 million jobs may be displaced by a global shift in the division of labour between humans and machines, 133 million new roles may emerge that are more relevant to this new reality in the workplace. But what are the main issues facing policymakers here i...

Whilst the business community is constantly embracing the advantages of digital technologies to improve productivity and efficiency, there is a general acceptance that more could be done by the public sector to follow their lead, especially at a time when public expenditure is being reduced. The good news is that a survey earlier this year by Ipsos showed that 58 per cent of UK citizens recognised the positive impact digital is having on the quality of public services. However, whilst three quarters said government should press ahead with plans to digitise public services, 47 per cent did not believe the public sector had the necessary skills to make progress on this issue. That is why a report this week is to be welcomed as the first step in hopefully closing the gap between what citizens in Wales want and what is currently being delivered by the private sector. “System Reboot: Transforming public services through better use of digital” is a long overdue study from an expe...

Across the World, higher education has become big business and a major contributor to the economic prosperity of many nations. For example, it has been estimated that in the UK alone, universities generate £95 billion for the country’s economy and support more than 940,000 jobs. However, an increasing number of experts believe that rather than expanding further, the university sector in many countries will actually contract due to the changing environment for learning. Indeed, one of the world’s leading experts on innovation has suggested that a significant number of universities in the USA will fail over the next decade.  In examining how the education sector may be disrupted over the next few years, Professor Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School believes that due to innovations such as online learning, 50 percent of the 4,000 colleges and universities in the USA could be closed within the next fifteen years. Whether this will turn to be the case (and whether UK...

In an analysis of the changes facing the global workforce, the World Economic Forum concluded that most of the skills that many employees currently have will be largely irrelevant by the end of this decade. And as other research studies have also demonstrated, many of the new competences that will be needed are related to digital skills not only in knowledge-based industries but across all sectors. Given this, the key question for many employers in this scenario is which digital skills will be most needed in the future? This is the conundrum that the innovation body NESTA has been analysing in detail through the novel method of examining online job adverts between 2012 and 2017 and the study reveals some fascinating and sometimes unexpected findings. First of all, the amazing number of digital skills across all sectors – 1,358 different types including 756 types of software - demonstrates the challenge in developing a coherent and comprehensive approach to training. These r...

From keeping in touch with our friends by Facebook to managing our money via online banking, we now take it for granted that the digital world is changing our lives. Despite this, much remains to be done to ensure that the UK economy invests in information and communications technologies (ICT) to create further competitive advantage across all sectors in the economy. That is the conclusion from last month’s publication of the 2016 Global Information Technology Report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) which examined the level of preparedness of 139 countries to take advantage of the opportunities presented by emerging technologies and the digital economy. Whilst the UK is in the top 10, it is still behind countries such as Singapore, Finland and Sweden when it comes to digital readiness. However, there are a number of important lessons from these leading digital nations that could help us to catch up. The report suggests that innovation – which is so critical to developing...

With nine months to go until the 2015 general election, it is not unusual that various groups are already setting out their stall to the political parties as to what could, or should, be in their manifestos. The latest to do this is Coadec , which has been established as a non-profit organisation to support digital start-ups in the UK, a sector that has the potential to make a huge difference in the future. The UK is the fastest growing digital nation in the G20 and this part of the economy will to be worth over 12 per cent of GDP by 2016. In addition, the UK applications industry developing smartphones and tablets is alone forecasted to grow by 800 per cent over the next ten years to £31 billion. New developments such as ‘Silicon Roundabout’ in London where 15,000 new firms have been established in the last few years are already being seen as rivalling other hotspots such as Silicon Valley for entrepreneurial potential. Their manifesto is a fascinating document , not least...

Earlier this month, the Digital 2014 conference was held at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport. Taking place over two days, the event focused on identifying the opportunities within the information and communications technology industry (ICT) especially the challenges and opportunities for young people as they progress through the education system and into the workplace. It also brought together global technology brands, industry professionals and knowledge experts to engage, educate and energise individuals, businesses and public sector organisations around the use and uptake of digital technologies in order to achieve organisational goals and deliver economic success. The venue for the conference was opportune, given the recent strong statement of intent made via the Newport City Task Force to create a major presence in the digital and ICT world. This includes creating an innovation company to act as a hub to attract investors to the area, establishing a National Centre f...

Last week, Superfast Cymru - the high-speed broadband infrastructure being developed by the Welsh Government and BT - announced that over 100,000 homes and businesses in Wales are expected to have access to high speed broadband by the end of 2013 as a direct result of the project. The significance of the rollout of this network should not be underestimated, especially given that a recent study from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) suggested that businesses in the so-called ‘digital economy’ comprise 14 per cent of all companies and 11 per cent of all jobs in the UK. In fact, whilst there is a temptation to consider digital businesses as being predominantly based within high technology industries, the increasing use of digital tools and platforms within other sectors means that the digital economy is widening its net every year. Yet despite the fact that the very nature of the digital industry means that businesses can flourish in any part of the c...

Last week, the World Economic Forum (WEF) published their annual Global Information Technology Report which measures the extent to which various nations are developing their Information and Communications Technology (ICT) capacity and its impact on competitiveness, as well as economic and social capacity. It does this by examining a number of factors including the friendliness of a country’s market and regulatory framework in supporting high levels of uptake, and the degree of a society’s preparation to make good use of an affordable ICT infrastructure.  It also looks at the efforts of individuals, business and government to increase their capacity to use ICT and the broad economic and social impacts accruing from this. As with all detailed reports from the WEF, there are some mouth-watering statistics for those looking to see where the next growth areas are going to develop. For example, the study finds that mobile broadband is currently generating a tremendous $1.3tril...