Understanding the Digital Skills Landscape
Digital Skills is a cross-cutting theme in every industry and job role and has become more prevalent in our everyday lives over recent years. With this in mind, we as the North Wales Regional Skills Partnership wanted to better understand the Digital Skills landscape across North Wales. Therefore, earlier this year we commissioned a piece of research, engaging with organisations of all sizes, in all sectors across North Wales as we recognise that Digital Skills are not limited to one particular sector.
Broadly, the purpose of the research was to gain insights into the needs of employers when considering basic and advanced digital skills, tools and technologies, and the diversity of the workforce in the region. Tony Venus of ODAG Consulting, the appointed consultant, carried out thorough primary and secondary research, engaging with employers through meetings, as well as conducting a survey, and presented his findings and the subsequent report with recommendations to the RSP Board and the Digital Dozen employer sub-group which is made up of 12 employers from across North Wales who all work in varying sector but all share the common need for digital skills.
The report highlighted some key challenges and growth opportunities that are seen within digital skills both now and in the future, from showing gender disparity, particularly in senior roles to growth in AI and gaming industries in North Wales. Some notable findings include:
- Good levels of provision are available from local providers or accredited online courses for basic digital skills, but there is a general lack of understanding of how to access courses to recruit apprentices or up-skill existing staff. Providers should expect to see an increase in demand for PowerBI, data programming and full DevOps to meet the advanced digital skills needs of employers.
- There is a lack of diversity in gender and ethnic minorities in digital roles, however there is a general belief that this lack of diversity is an issue that starts much sooner than the workplace, and is something that is caused by the lack of females and ethnic minority groups choosing digital courses at college or university.
- Graduate recruitment was identified as the main pathway into digital roles, followed by vocational college qualifications. Thorough mapping of digital pathways has been done and is included in the report.
This report has provided a suggested direction of travel for the Digital Dozen and the group have now started taking action on the 8 recommendations presented in the report, focussing on 4 of the recommendations until the end of March 2025. The recommendations we have chosen to prioritise include:
1. Produce clear promotion of apprenticeships to employers on the digital apprenticeship and degree apprenticeship frameworks available for basic and advanced digital skills, including embedded qualifications, and the provision and accessibility in North Wales.
2. Provide employers with guidance on the implementation and operation of digital apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships including how they can be used to provide funded training for both new recruits and current employees.
4. Develop signposting to basic and advanced digital skills courses and qualifications in North Wales, also identifying open-source online learning resources endorsed by employers.
5. Implement initiatives to champion widening participation aiming to raise the number and diversity of learners progressing into digital courses and careers. Encourage engagement with digital courses at school, college, and university, fostering inclusivity and broadening the scope of learners entering digital careers.
In response to these recommendations and as a way to tackle some of the challenges the report has presented, the Digital Dozen have proposed a number of actions that they can move forward with. A few suggestions include short videos from individual working in job roles growing in demand, producing a video explaining the benefits of apprenticeships and develop example pathways individuals can follow to pursue a career in their desired job title.
To read the report or find out more about the recommendations, follow the link
Digital Skills Analysis
We look forward to keeping you updated with our progress!
North Wales Regional Skills Partnership
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