In this blog Claire Arbery, Director of the West of England IoT (WEIoT) discusses the future plans for WEIoT and how the partnership maybe able to help you and your business.
Introduction
As the summer draws to a close, here at the West of England IoT we are busy preparing for the next academic year. In the next week we intend to welcome over 300 new students to join our growing student body, ready to develop their future skills.
Way back in July, the WEIoT hosted a future technology event in Weston super Mare showcasing the capabilities of autonomous vehicles, and the possibilities of electrification for cars that previously had internal combustion engines. During that one baking hot summer weekend - remember it? - we were delighted that over 2,000 members of the public engaged with the demonstration, and just over 1,000 took a ride in the pod.
Impact of this event
This was a great first step to show the general public the future of technology in action and raised debate around future transport needs, the availability of charging points for EV and how the pods may be used in a seaside setting. This event was also a great opportunity for students to engage with the pod and learn about the technologies that make it operate and to be safe. Students even learned how to programme a pod to set its route.
So, to Autumn,
As we move into September WEIoT members are now focused on new learners joining our campuses and getting to test our investments in buildings and latest industry standard equipment in our IoT spaces. Our offer of support does not stop at full-time or apprenticeships, we have also been able to make investments in shorter bootcamp courses available to upskill existing staff with digital skills to take on new roles such as data engineering or cloud services or help those looking to broaden their skills and take advantage of digital opportunities the chance to train.
Supporting industry and sectors
With the benefit of some investment from the Department for Education, the WEIoT members will be working with employers in Aerospace, Health and Digital to develop more courses/ resources that truly reflect the skills they need their staff to have in the future.
Many of you have spoken about the commitment to release staff for long periods of time to undertake training can be a real drain on time and resources and have an impact on your productivity and return on investment. With this in mind we are looking at developing short modules of courses than can be bolted together to address business needs without having to commit to a 6- or 12-month programme, more of this to be discussed in the future.
My call to you….
So, businesses of the South West, get ready for winter! Please a have a look at the businesses you guide and manage, is there something that needs fixing, a skills shortage? Is there are new technique for building /making/ developing that you want people to be able to do in the future - to grasp the opportunity for growth?
Please reach out to us, the education sector has never been more ready to listen, so please speak up…. We are all ears.
To find out more about any of these initiatives, please contact Claire at [email protected]