Archives ""

UK’s quantum computing industry needs investment in talent, says techUK CEO

“How do you get a quantum literate workforce within the broader tech sector?” asks Julian David, CEO of UK technology trade association techUK for more than ten years. “How do you get people to understand and be empowered to utilise quantum technologies or applications?”

This echoes the sentiment of many a country tasked with navigating complex innovation and turning research ideas into business opportunities. While it’s still relatively early days for a quantum applications industry, David’s point is that we have to improve the country’s overall technology competency level to have any chance of grasping the opportunities that quantum will inevitably bring.

“The UK government needs to keep focusing on the skill gaps,” says David. “If you want a quantum strategy, it’s not just about putting money up and encouraging people to get the latest tech, it’s also about investing in all this stuff around it, particularly skills and talents.”

Title

BI Foresight

Section

Read on

Click me

Why low code/no code opens doors but no panacea for skills shortages

Ever since organisations started pushing employees to “program” macros into Excel, the idea of “citizen developers” has taken root. On one level, there’s a lot of sense in it – why force software tools and processes onto employees across multiple departments, assuming they all work the same way? Software has always needed tweaking and where possible can be manipulated to be more relevant to certain tasks. As the old saying suggests, there really is no one size fits all when it comes to application development, but that hasn’t stopped the industry from trying.

So, the idea that employees can take some sort of control over the tools and services they use is an interesting one. A lot has already been made of low code/no code application development, or citizen development, but has the hype been misplaced? It is the sort of thing that gets developers rolling their eyes. The suggestion that low code/no code can empower employees to deliver quick apps has some merit but it’s not the full story.

Title

Computer Weekly

Section

Read on

Click me

How will companies manage skills gaps? More money? More training?

The tech industry has always been a bellwether of progress and with it, the ability of governments, educators and recruiters to keep pace with its changing demands. It’s interesting to remember the days when tech jobs were being decimated. Twenty years ago, Silicon Valley was laying off high tech workers in their thousands. This wasn’t a declining industry. As Wired reported at the time, this was a changing industry, one that had contended with a dotcom boom and bust period and was re-emerging into a decade that would see companies such as Skype, Facebook, Spotify and YouTube launch. The tech industry was not in crisis but in a constant state of flux, re-inventing and demanding new skills to enable innovation.

The best way to think about that is to consider the jobs that didn’t really exist in the early 2000s. Front end developers, UX designers, BI developers, cloud architects, data scientists; all have become specialist areas of work, where skills have evolved rapidly and demanded on-going learning. According to research by Gartner, 29% of the skills that were present in an average job posting in 2018 will be obsolete this year. So, we have a market, where demand for skills is growing and evolving rapidly and seemingly, a smaller pool of relevant candidates with the required skills to do those jobs.

Title

IDG Connect

Section

Read on

Click me

Fuzzy logic: The challenge of building data science teams

“There is no doubt that data science is one of the most challenging areas to recruit and retain teams,” says Richard James, senior data recruiter at tech recruitment and outsourcing consultancy Harvey Nash. It’s the consequence of an almost perfect storm of problems impacting recruiters, where demand is outstripping supply and the supply line is littered with inconsistencies and inadequacies in fundamental skills development.

This is having a significant impact on business. According to James, Harvey Nash’s recent Digital leadership report found that two-thirds of digital leaders in the UK are unable to keep pace with change because of a dearth of the talent they need. While cyber security tops the charts for the most in-demand skills, big data and analytics come in a close second.

With data increasingly touching every aspect of business, this is understandably a worry. If data is supposed to offer competitive advantage, how can UK businesses compete, especially in a recruitment market that has been hit by the double whammy of Covid-19 and Brexit?

The UK government published a policy paper in May 2021, entitled Quantifying the UK data skills gap, to try to assess the scale of the problem and the main causes. It found that nearly half of businesses interviewed were currently recruiting for data roles, but a similar number – just under 46% – had struggled to fill data roles over the past two years.

It’s a problem that is not really being addressed and while government interest is welcome, you feel the horse bolted quite a while ago on this one.

Title

Computer Weekly

Section

Read on

Click me