Intelligent Data Centres Issue 05 | Page 22

INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE POWERED BY THE DCA Steve Hone CEO and Co-Founder of the Data Centre Trade Association by guest speakers and network with industry experts, recruitment specialists and fellow members/would-be employers working in the sector. Meeting in person with students from UTCs and universities is proving to be a great way of engaging with them and a step in the right direction – but is it too late? Research conducted by techUK would indicate that this awareness process needs to start at a much earlier stage. The study concludes that primary school children need to know that data centres exist and why they are a brilliant place to work – see Vinous Ali, Head of Policy for techUK’s report Preparing for change: How tech parents view education and the future of work. about it as a static moment in time – a moment of huge upheaval and then settling down. The truth of the matter is these new technologies will become ever more sophisticated and integrated with each other – creating wave upon wave of change, until change becomes the new norm. The pace and scale of this change will be unlike anything that has come before. The speed at which breakthroughs are now made and commercialised is set to continue with prices falling as it does. The benefits of this are clear: a rise in global income level, improved quality of life, increases in efficiencies and productivity at work and at home. Businesses’ costs, from transportation to communication, will also drop. Vinous argues in the report that emerging technologies are becoming more mainstream in our economy. AI, automation, robotics and IoT devices will all mark an unprecedented change in the way we live our lives. Whether you call it the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Society 5.0 or any one of the myriad of buzzy names being invented, two things become clear, this change presents both an enormous opportunity and equally difficult challenges that we must confront head on if we are to make it a success for humanity. When people talk about the Fourth Industrial Revolution, they often speak 22 Issue 05 Educating the future It all starts with education. Dell has estimated that 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030 don’t exist today. So, the question is how do policymakers and educators prepare children today for a future that is shrouded in mystery? We know that automation will play a bigger role in the job market in the future and many roles will involve working hand in hand with machines – interpretation of data, finding creative solutions. These are skills that the World Economic Forum has dubbed ‘human’ skills. A slightly strange term perhaps and more often referred to as soft skills. All of which need to be nurtured. In the summer, techUK surveyed more than 100 parents working in tech who had children between the ages of five and 17. They were asked for their views on the UK’s education system today and how they felt it needed to change. Now, these parents do not have crystal balls, but they do have insights into the technological journey we are on and they certainly had opinions. The Preparing for change report includes ground-breaking research into the opinions of parents working for tech companies and reveals their optimism for the future job market but reservations about whether children are being prepared properly. Amanda McFarlane, PR and Marketing Manager DCA Global Despite recent negativity that suggests automation and new technologies will lead www.intelligentdatacentres.com