THE COURSES WERE CREATED TO HELP PEOPLE GAIN TECHNICAL , JOB-READY SKILLS AND REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE THROUGH ONLINE WORK , HANDS-ON LABS AND EXPERT INSTRUCTION .
INTELLIGENT VERTICAL : EDUCATION
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THE COURSES WERE CREATED TO HELP PEOPLE GAIN TECHNICAL , JOB-READY SKILLS AND REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE THROUGH ONLINE WORK , HANDS-ON LABS AND EXPERT INSTRUCTION .
make their own contribution to addressing societal challenges and how open source technology and methodology can drive positive change in the world .
The competition concludes in a grand final at the University of Surrey , where the teams demonstrate their apps . As well as receiving feedback from the Red Hat judges , who are experienced software programmers , the teams exchange techniques and ideas with each other and talk about how they overcame any problems . Additionally , the teams benefit from hearing from recent Science , Technology , Engineering and Maths ( STEM ) graduates , who are currently on Red Hat ’ s graduate programme in the UK .
There is a growing need in the UK for digital skills and efforts to close this gap can start from when children are in school . In 2017 , there were 2.1 million UK jobs in the digital tech economy , according to the 2018 Tech Nation Report . An estimated 1.2 million more people with specialist digital skills are needed by 2022 according to the UK government , yet access to talent is a top challenge for doing business , as identified by 55 % of communities surveyed by Tech Nation .
Through the competition , Red Hat , Lord Wandsworth College and University of Surrey hope to emphasise the opportunities and enjoyment children can gain from STEM , help them to understand how open collaboration can assist in solving problems faster and contextualise classroom learning by developing apps for the real world supported by industry experts and academics .
The Open Schools Coding Competition embodies Red Hat ’ s commitment to educating and empowering the next generation of open source leaders ; other initiatives include CO . LAB , presented by Open Source Stories .
Birmingham City University is also helping to pave the way to a digitally-educated generation by launching new courses aimed at teaching students some of the most sought-after digital skills .
Microsoft has teamed up with the Institute of Coding ( IoC ) to introduce a programme focused on analysing and visualising data with Power BI , the technology company ’ s information analytics tool .
The courses were created to help people gain technical , job-ready skills and real-world experience through online work , hands-on labs and expert instruction , setting the bar for new careers in technology .
As companies digitise more of their operations , they are creating much more data about their sites , staff and how they work . Bosses need experts who can look through those insights and use it to help make their business become more efficient and reduce unnecessary costs .
Students completing the courses will receive a Microsoft certificate to prove their new skills .
Ian Fordham , Director of Education at Microsoft UK , said : “ We are delighted to have worked with the Institute of Coding and Birmingham City University to give students the opportunity to achieve certification in an increasingly vital area of technology .
“ As we move further into the Fourth Industrial Revolution , it will be evermore important for students to leave the education system with the technical skills organisations will need to thrive in this new cloud economy . Helping students understand and apply AI and machine learning technologies , cloud and data analytics can help set these students on a prosperous career path and we look forward to rolling this programme out more broadly in time for the new academic year .”
Originally launched as a pilot for 40 students at the university , the courses will now be rolled out to more entrants in the next academic year .
Rachid Hourizi , Director of the IoC , said : “ This initiative is designed to equip students with a really practical understanding of data science , bolstering their CV and improving their employability prospects .
“ Our mission is to spread opportunity through digital skills , empowering as many people as possible , whatever their background , to reach their full potential .”
The IoC was launched by Prime Minister , Theresa May , in January , supported by a consortium of more than 60 universities , industry experts and businesses including Microsoft , in a bid to tackle the UK ’ s digital skills gap .
It is believed that 65 % of today ’ s students will end up working in jobs that don ’ t exist yet and more than 500,000 highly-skilled workers will be needed to fill digital roles by 2022 , three times the number of UK computer science students who graduated in the past 10 years .
Just 5 % of computer scientists are female , while people returning to work and those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are also vastly under-represented within the sector .
The institute aims to deliver practical digital skills to higher education students and those already in employment via industry-accredited courses at 25 traditional universities across Britain and education providers such as the Open University , Birkbeck and FutureLearn .
Microsoft will offer a technology curriculum that will prepare students for a digital career , digital literacy skills that employers are looking for and free software , among other services .
The IoC will be funded via a £ 20 million investment from the government , which said digital skills are ‘ essential ’ to economic growth and £ 20 million from the consortium and other industry partners . •
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