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A PUSH TO GENERATE INTEREST
AMONG WOMEN, WHO ARE UNDER-REPRESENTED IN STEM FIELDS,
CAN ALSO HELP PLUG THE SKILLS GAPSKILLS GAP PREDICTION TO 2025 ACROSS
ALL SECTORSIt is free of charge, requires no formal school qualifications (although competition for places is fierce), and involves no teaching in the traditional sense. Instead, a thousand students are thrown together, given programming challenges, and are left to figure them out collaboratively. Graduates are highly coveted by employers, and the school is relatively low-cost to implement and run. At the moment, the workforce employed
in transport is ageing and lacks diversity.
With increased awareness across all tiers
of education, and a trained talent pool ready
to jump on new career opportunities,
that could easily change. Skilled jobs in information technology tend to be more lucrative than the average role; they can
also be more creative and diverse than the routine jobs that are being rendered obsolete by the tech revolution. The UK is already a leader in many of the skills required for Intelligent Mobility, such as data management and analysis, autonomous vehicles, Cyber Security, and smart ticketing. With the Brexit process already in motion, there is more reason than ever to invest money in a workforce equipped with skills needed by the jobs market of the future. “If we don’t do anything, there will be an opportunity cost to the UK of £50bn per year,” says Herbath, citing the organisation’s report. “Instead of being a world leader, we will just be a follower. It’s critical that we address these issues.” Infrastructural engineering: 288,750(Source: The TSC’s Intelligent Mobility Skills Strategy,
published October 2016, ts.catapult.org.uk/imskills)TOTAL:
742,250Sectoral engineering: 137,000Science and technology: 35,000Maths and statistics: 143,200Computer
science: 129,800Psychology and human factors:
1,000Management:
2,500Innovation and creativity: 5,000SKILLS GAP19IMAGINE