Young people across the UK are being urged to sign up to a major technology event in Wales this summer to find out how their skills can be utilised in the digital economy and how educators and employers can maximise their potential.
The bespoke Digital Skills theme at Digital 2015 – a free technology event at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport – will bring together young people, educators and employers on June 8 and 9 to discuss the challenges and opportunities for young people as they progress through the education system and into the workplace.
The Digital Skills theme will connect educators, training providers, employers with students and school children and focus on the challenges and opportunities for those progressing through the education system and into the workplace. To hear about real opportunities and insights from the workplace, interactive workshops will be run by the likes of Cardiff University, BBC, Wise Kids and The Education Foundation, Acorn.
Confirmed speakers include Ian Livingston CBE, the ‘Father’ of Tomb Raider and the man behind franchises such as Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy, who will debate the relationship between arts and sciences and how educators in the creative industries can ensure they are at the forefront of digital change.
As Creative Industries Champion for the Government’s Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, Livingstone plays a key role in both the promotion and support of the creative sector and its skills base, making sure business and skills policies are sufficiently tailored to the creative industries.
He will lead a number of panel sessions including a PolicyMeet that will debate how the UK and devolved governments can ensure a digital agenda is placed at the heart of education as a workshop with the TeachMeet community where both teachers and businesses debate openly on digital skills and learning in the classroom.
The event will also see the UK Launch of EdTech, a brand new organisation that will provide a ‘front door’ to help accelerate the growth of the UK’s education technology sector in Britain and globally. It was made possible by the Education Foundation’s pioneering Edtech Incubator program that launched in 2013, and will aim to provide a voice for the entire learning technology sector – including educators, startups, scale up and high growth companies, large corporations, investors, regulators and policy makers.
Additional workshops and talks will include:
- Gaming Workshops from National Software Academy
- Digital Skills Required for the 21st Century
- Making your own weather by the BBC
- The role of ‘bootcamps’ in up-skilling young
- The balance of responsibility between education and industry
- Skills workshops on LinkedIn, SEO, Big Data and social media
For budding entrepreneurs keen to hear from innovative start-ups, the Digital Entrepreneurs stage will help students and those just out of education explore the types of funding options open to digital start-ups and better understand what it takes to cut through the noise and establish successful organisations with new and disruptive technologies at their core.
Speakers will include Alexandra Schwinn, Co-Founder of Musiqli, a digital service to help musicians connect and collaborate with other musicians in their area. It was created at Cambridge University’s start-up accelerator by a team of musicians and developers who wanted to turn their technical talents towards their passion of music.
Acorn will be also be hosting a Skills Fair which will enable young people, IT & tech professionals and employers to discuss the skills required for the future.
To register to attend, visit https://www.digital2015.co.uk/digital-2015-registration/.