Digital festival back to help plug the skills gap
THE Digital Skills Festival is returning to Manchester to help plug the widening skills gap.
The four-day event brings together those interested in a digital career with education providers and digital and tech businesses from across the region to boost talent and skills. Now in its sixth year, the event, which is organised by Manchester Digital, the digital trade association, takes place from February 13 to 16 at The Lowry Hotel.
The conference opens with a number of keynote speakers including John Harvey from MoneySuperMarket and Alex Alexandrescu, cofounder at Dicey Tech. Speakers are expected to tackle key issues affecting digital and technology businesses, such as growth, rewards, inclusivity and diversity. The results of the annual digital skills audit will also be revealed at the event.
Katie Gallagher, managing director at Manchester Digital, said: “To achieve its ambition to become a leading digital city, Greater Manchester needs a strong pipeline of highly skilled digital talent. However, we are currently in the midst of a major talent shortage where demand for skilled professionals is outstripping supply.
“This is why the Digital Skills Festival is such an important event in showcasing the excellent career opportunities which are available with tech and digital businesses across the region. Not only this, but it presents a fantastic opportunity to bring the industry together, encouraging us to work towards solving our own problems rather than waiting for external solutions to present themselves.”
Students and job seekers wanting to break into the industry are invited to the talent event, on February 14 from 11am-3pm, where 50 digital, creative and tech companies, including KPMG, TalkTalk and N Brown Group will be attending to discuss the range of careers in the industry and give workshops and seminars on how best to get on the ladder.
Dozens of schools have signed up to take part in the festival’s experience day, which offers students the chance to get practical digital skills including coding, website building and app development.
This year a new event has been added to the line up, called Digital Futures: Computing, Curriculum and Careers, which is aimed specifically at teachers and careers advisers at schools and colleges in Greater Manchester.
The half-day event will feature inspirational speakers, as well as practical workshops in digital making, ed tech and careers, which are designed to help teachers improve their knowledge and expertise.
To find out more information about the event, visit https://www. manchesterdigital.com/events/ digital-skills-festival-2018