Digital skills - why we must act now

Everyone deserves a chance to make the most of life.

Since the Government’s landslide victory in the December general election, there has been much debate about how it will deliver for those constituencies that cast their vote for the Conservatives for the first time. New infrastructure, including better roads, reliable trains and faster broadband, is key to this.

But skills – and in particular digital skills – must also be a national priority.

Onward - the think tank credited with identifying “Workington Man” as a crucial group of voters that Boris Johnson needed to win over at the election – has suggested that more than ￡1billion is needed each year to retrain Britain’s 8.5million low-skilled workers before automation hits.

But the digital skills challenge is even tougher than that.

It is not only about how to manage digital transformation as automation, AI and other new technologies transform our work places.

It is how to make a life changing difference to the low levels of confidence too many people have right now when it comes to technology.

And if we don’t radically impact this lack of confidence, then the divides that exist in our society could get even wider. 

BT – and our new completely free Skills for Tomorrow programme – is committed to tackling this digital skills divide. That’s why we worked with the Oxford University Internet Institute to study people’s attitudes to technology, and how they’re using it today. We wanted to see how we could best help.

What emerged was a strong correlation between lower education levels, lower income and lower digital skills.

Almost everyone who is offline has either no qualifications or secondary school qualifications and 90% of non-users earn less than the national average salary.

And while help is often available, the people who need it the most do not know what digital skills training they need or where to find it. This limits their chances to access more technical and higher-paid jobs in the future. Automation is already changing the workforce landscape. But we will always need people. Confident, agile, problem-solving people.

Whether you are a machinist in Cornwall, a plumber in Newcastle, an office worker in Glasgow, or “Workington Man”, digital is already changing how you work and that’s only going to continue. You need to be able to find your routes to market in the digital world, and develop confidence to use the digital tools employers are implementing to save money and increase productivity.

Government has a role to play here and as Ministers consider their priorities for 2020 and beyond, it’s good to see the digital skills gap is part of their agenda.

But business also has a role. Employers all over Britain must target their training efforts to help those who need it most, and not simply those who earn most.

The connections between us enrich society. I believe our work with Skills for Tomorrow will help everyone - and especially those who demonstrably need it - make the most of life. It brings together some of the best online and face to face training in partnership with some of the best providers. All for free.

Tackling digital skills and confidence has to be a national priority. Otherwise instead of connecting us, digital could drive us further apart.

 By Professor Kerensa Jennings, Digital Impact Director at BT

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