Codeclan appoints a new chief exec
Codeclan, the Scottish digital skills academy, has appointed a new chief operating officer as it looks to build on its milestone of producing 1,000 graduates.
The organisation, which has campuses in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness, has hired Neil Brown from The Data Lab as chief operating officer. He will work closely with chief executive Melinda Matthews-Clarkson to help drive engagement and partnerships.
The academy, which said it was experiencing record demand for its programming, data and be spoke courses, recently marked its fifth anniversary and has now produced more than 1,000 graduates since opening its doors.
Brown was previously The Data Lab’s project development manager, where he connected researchers and data scientists with industry and public sector organisations.
Prior to that, he was a pro - gram me manager at the University of Strathclyde, overseeing a low carbon power and energy programme for the university in collaboration with major utility and energy companies.
Matthews-Clark son said: “Neil has made a strong contribution to the success of The Data Lab in recent years and we’re really happy to get him on board to help manage both our internal operations and to assist in our growth in Scotland.”
Brown added :“I’ ve greatly admired what Me linda and the Codeclan team have achieved, and I’m excited to join at a time when the narrative around digital skills and digitisation has never been more important “I now have the opportunity to stay involved in delivering impact to Scotl and’ stech and data community, and I’m looking forward to helping to deliver immediate value to Scotland’s ever growing digital economy.”
Codeclan said its team and students were now either back on campus or planning to get back on campus, or utilising the remote learning virtual classroom model introduced earlier this year.
In September, Bill Douglas was appointed as the acade - my’s new chair, replacing Polly Purvis.
Code Clan said it will announce a series of new industry partnerships over the “next few weeks and months”.
Initially funded by the Scottish Government, the academy is now run as a not-forprof itself-funded or ga nisat ion, working with hundr eds of employers across Scotland ranging from startups to global corporates. The organisation has been running professional software development, data analysis and web development courses since it opened. Matthews-Clark son said: “We are not going top retend that the last few months have been easy, but it’s nice to take a moment to see how far we have come as we mark our 1,000th graduate.” Commenting on the recently published Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review, she added :“The Logan Review illustrates in no uncertain terms how import an te ducation and training is if we want to take our digital sector to the next level in Scotland.”