The value and impact of e-skills UK industry led curriculum at UK Education Institutions

Bob Clift

Higher Education Programmes

bob.clift@e-skills.com

e-skills UK

Employer-led, not for profit company

Licensed by Government as the Sector Skills Council for Business and Information Technology

Mission is to unite industry, educators and government in collaborative, employer-led action to ensure the UK has the technology skills it needs to compete in the global economy

UK-wide responsibility for:

• Technology workforce

• IT-related skills needs

– business management and leadership roles

– everyone who uses IT

e-skills UK

Vision is that the UK is recognised as a global leader in delivering business value from technology.

Focused on three strategic objectives:

• Inspire future talent

• Support IT professionals

• Digital Capability

Supported by the four elements of our core remit:

• employer engagement

• research

• standards & qualifications

• partnerships

IT & Telecoms Board: Oliver Benzecry – Managing Director, UK & Ireland Accenture

Clive Selley – CEO BT Innovate & Design BT

Dr Philip Oliver – CEO Blitz Games

Phil Smith (Chair) – VP and Chief Executive, UK & Ireland Cisco

Craig Wilson – Managing Director and VP, UK & Ireland HP Enterprise Services

David Stokes – Chief Executive UK, Ireland IBM

Andy Green – CEO Logica

Gordon Frazer – MD, UK and VP, MS International Microsoft

David Callaghan – Senior VP Oracle

Gayna Hart – MD Quicksilva

A. S. Lakshminarayanan – VP and Head, Europe Tata Consultancy Services

Ronan Dunne – CEO O2

Christine Hodgson - Chairman, Capgemini

CIO Board Paul Coby (Chair) – IT Director John Lewis

Tiffany Hall – Technology Controller for Operations, Finance and FM BBC

Simon Post – Chief Technology Officer Carphone Warehouse

Andy Nelson – Government CIO; & CIO, MoJ

Ailsa Beaton – Director of Information Metropolitan Police Service

Ben Wishart – Group CIO Morrisons

David Lister – CIO National Grid

Catherine Doran – CIO Royal Mail

Angela Morrison – CIO Direct Line Group

Richard Thwaite – MD CIO, Global Asset Management IT UBS

Peter Pederson – CTO For other industry SMEs

e-skills UK Board Members

e-skills UK Board Members

Current Skills Priorities

ICT in schools - Reforming IT-related education in schools

Traineeships - Preparing students for apprenticeships

Apprenticeships - Working with IT employers in every sector to develop a suite of IT Apprenticeship programmes

Employability of graduates - There is a need for greater collaboration between industry and higher education

The workforce – up-skilling

Computer Clubs for Girls (CC4G) -an out-of-the-box after-school club to encourage girls to love IT

Girls as young as 8 are simply turning away from IT because they consider it unappealing and geeky. They are unimpressed with what they see as a ‘boy-topic’. This is a critical problem

Young women are missing out on exciting and rewarding careers, and organisations are missing out on half the talent pool

Computer Clubs for Girls (CC4G) -an out-of-the-box after-school club to encourage girls to love IT

Since 2005, more than 135,000 girls in over 3,800 schools have experienced CC4G

84% say they are more likely to consider further education or a career in technology

Engaging and interactive IT projects for Key Stage 4 pupils

Being developed with industry –

including BAFTA, Blitz, IBM, BT and CapGemini

Free to use, with over 120 schools

already involved

Cyber security project finalist in

BETT 2013 awards

A digital careers website for 14-19 year olds

Demonstrates the diverse range of opportunities in the IT industry

Features over 70 employers and news, competitions and learning materials

Receives 20,000+ unique visits a year

Facts and Figures

129,000 new entrants are required each year

to fill IT professional job roles in the UK

50% of IT & Telecoms roles are recruited from

non Computing disciplines.

The number of applicants to Computing

Degrees has declined by 28% between 2002

and 2010 whereas the number of applicants to

all HE courses has increased by 51% over the

same period.

Unemployment for Computing graduates

(17%) is the highest of all subjects (7.6%

across all graduates in 2011)

Only 18% of graduates from IT related HE

courses are female.

e-skills UK’s degree programme -develops the skills businesses need from graduates Created by employers, supported by

DfES and HEFCE A blend of

25%-35% Technology 20%-25% Business 20%-25% Project management 20%-25% Interpersonal skills

Supported by over 60 employers

Delivered by 14 universities

Over 1200 students Over 350 graduates

The IT Management for Business (ITMB) BSc is a degree programme that was designed by e-skills UK and employers from across all industries to help students develop the skills that businesses need from graduates to compete in today’s global market. It is supported by over 60 top employers and is being delivered to over 1,200 students across 14 universities in the UK with over 400 graduates since 2005 100% of 2011 ITMB graduates were found to be in employment or in further education within 6 months of graduation

e-skills UK’s degree programme -develops the skills businesses need from graduates 33% of students are female 82% of 2012 ITMB graduates gained

a 2.1 or First Class degree compared to 51% across all other IT graduates

100% of 2011 ITMB graduates in

employment or further education within 6 months of graduation

Soon to be available at 19 universities across the UK

Aston University

Glasgow Caledonian University (Sep 2013)

Glyndŵr University (Sep 2013)

Keele University

Lancaster University

Loughborough University

Northumbria University

Oxford Brookes University

Queen Mary University of London (Sep 2013)

University College London (UCL)

University of Chichester (Sep 2013)

University of Derby (Sep 2013)

University of Exeter

University of Glamorgan

University of Greenwich

University of Hertfordshire

University of Manchester

University of Sheffield

University of West England (UWE)

Student Video

33% of all jobs of all IT jobs are for

software developers

Launch in 2014

Reflect industry’s changing needs

Use ITMB model

Employer designed Learning Outcomes

Delivery enhanced via employer

engagement, guru lectures, community

site, placements, mock interviews, visits,

events etc

Software Development

for Business degree

IT in business awareness

Professional practice (communication,

report writing, team-working, career and

employability awareness)

Deep technical competence of the software

development process as applied in

business

Software project management

Information security

A blend of:

60%-70% Technology

10%-15% Business

10%-5% Project management

15%-20% Interpersonal skills

Software Development

for Business degree

Software Development

for Business degree Draft Summary of

High Level Degree Outcomes

1. Show mastery of the software development process - including the knowledge, skills, and professional competences necessary to begin practice as a software engineer in a business environment.

2. Be able to confidently work as an individual and as part of a team - to develop and deliver quality software deliverables.

3. Design appropriate solutions in a range of application contexts/domains using software

development approaches that deliver business value.

4. Build and test software solutions for a range of application contexts/domains.

5. Reconcile conflicting project objectives - finding acceptable compromises recognising the

limitations of capability, capacity, cost, and time.

6. Demonstrate an understanding of and apply current software development theories, models, and techniques - that provide a basis for problem identification and analysis, software design,

development, implementation, verification, and documentation.

7. Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation for the importance of negotiation, effective work habits, leadership, and good communication with stakeholders - in a typical software development business environment.

8. Learn new models, techniques, and technologies as they emerge - and appreciate the necessity of such continuing professional development.

9. Embed information security principles - within the software development life cycle.

Objectives

Give students the tools to assess their skills

against professional standards and identify

the learning they need for the job they want

Enable students to train for industry-valued

certifications that demonstrate vocational

competence

Provide a wide range of work experience

and related support for participating

students, with a particular focus on

encouraging females into the sector

Developing Employability

Skills – Oct ‘12 to Mar ‘13

Execution

16 Universities across the country

563 Students participated

Supported by over 50 companies

Supported by over 250 employees

Results will be published shortly

Developing Employability

Skills

Growth areas for degrees

Security skills Employers frequently associate security related skills issues with many of the key trends and the ability of IT & Telecoms professionals to deal with these security issues will be one of their priority skills areas.

Business skills Creative, technical and entrepreneurial skills alone are not enough – as professionals need to manage lifecycles of product development, and solve real business issues. Technical skills need to be complemented by a balanced understanding of businesses’ broader objectives.

Technology specific skills Central to nearly all future trends is specific and high level technical knowledge. Within the systems that underpin the convergence of communications & IT, networks and devices that support voice, video and data communications and mobile devices.

IT & Telecoms professionals also need a deep understanding of a wide variety of technical issues if cloud computing is to become a reality

Interpersonal skills As information technology and services become more embedded in everyday life, both business and social, IT & Telecoms professionals need to be able to deal with and better understand customer challenges and consumer choices.

Analytical and research skills Analytics is a vital component of connecting information and technology to business problems. This will require organisations to have strong data architecture in place and then to develop new analytics skills to bring business meaning to operational data.

Any Questions?