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
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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
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