Using technology to help create a more diverse advertising and marketing communications industry

During AdWeek Europe, taking place this week in London, the UK advertising and marketing communication industry are recognising how crucial a diverse talent pool is. This diversity and cultural richness help make our industry among the most creatively awarded in the world. Nevertheless, more still needs to be done to inspire and create a more inclusive and diverse industry for incoming young talent.

If you think that “65% of people at school today will leave and do jobs that don’t exist yet”, and a majority of those jobs will fall into the world of advertising and marketing communications.

The main skill to thrive in the future will be ‘creativity’. Creativity is diverse. To achieve better results, more diversity will help create a better balance for more to succeed.

Technological change, economic turbulence and societal transformation are disrupting old career certainties and it is increasingly difficult to judge which degrees and qualifications will be a passport to a well-paid and fulfilling job in the decades ahead.

A new wave of automation, with the advent of true artificial intelligence, robots and driverless cars, threatens the future of traditional jobs, from truck drivers to lawyers and bankers.

What is clear is that many of our homegrown talent need to ‘futureproof’ themselves and to start developing the necessary skills today to ensure they can succeed into the future.

The core skill needed. Creativity.

Creativity is one of the key skills for the 21st century, helping us deal with the opportunities and challenges that are part of our complex and fast-changing world. How do we – as an industry - tap into a wide-berth of diverse skills?

As someone who is dyslexic and dyspraxic, technology helped me promote and enhance my strengths. With assistive technology, I soon discovered I could be as productive as I could be creative. In the past, I recorded meetings and made notes afterwards. With Microsoft’s in-built dictation tools, I can now transcribe what people say in real-time. When I don’t know how a word is spelt, I can say it into any device and it will appear on the screen.

Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more means the company is designing and building products that are accessible to everyone. As a result, it’s helping all of us communicate, work better and bring wider diversity into the industry.

In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, creativity will be the must-have skill, providing opportunities in new, digital sectors that are in their infancy today. In the future, coders will be creators.

Accessibility features such as voice in, voice out, eye control, touch, inking and auto-subtitles are becoming commonplace in software. Technology is catching up with everybody’s needs, including those with invisible disabilities such as dyslexia. Rather than thinking in terms of human versus machines, Microsoft is focused on how human traits such as creativity, empathy, emotion and insight can be mixed with AI to help move society forward. Companies which are encompassing an inclusive and diverse culture, will benefit in the long run.

Click here to see the full research.

When Microsoft launched its apprenticeship programme in 2010 there was a quiet confidence that it would achieve great things. Nearly a decade later, and with over 20,000 apprenticeship starts from a diverse background, delivered by Microsoft Learning Partners, that quiet confidence has become something to shout about.

Digital apprenticeships provide highly relevant skills in a digital world that benefit both the apprentice and the employer. The most powerful stories that came out of our research come from the apprentices themselves and the impact they say their apprenticeships have had on their lives.

The report 89% suggests it provides experience that is really valued in the industry and 82% say it allowed them to meet other apprenticeship from different backgrounds.

These range from career progression to personal development and social mobility. 70% of apprentices believe that undertaking a Microsoft apprenticeship will help with social mobility, although there remains work to be done to ensure the socioeconomic and gender diversity of apprenticeships is improved. This is something Microsoft cares deeply about, and we continue to push ourselves and our partners to meet this challenge.

It’s only the start, but there is so much more to achieve.

Do you know someone who would be interested in a digital apprenticeship? Check this out.