Driving Geospatial Data skills
Over 10% of the British economy is reportedly reliant on the use of geographic data. The varied uses of geospatial data means that the need for such skills will only grow in demand. To ensure we are using geospatial data to its full potential, techUK has seen how traditional GIS skills will need to be complemented with computational and statistical analysis skills, and in many cases a move towards data science.
With 82% of job vacancies now requiring digital skills, providing relevant digital skills upskilling can be a critical step in helping people to build up the skills for jobs, not only for tech specialist jobs but also for the majority of roles across all sectors of the economy. There is an opportunity for the UK to harness geospatial data skills for economic growth as the technology develops, but geospatial data skills will undoubtedly be affected by the rapid digitisation of industries. How we combat these issues is central in techUK’s Geospatial work and, as we have seen this campaign week, within the Geospatial Commission.
There is a growing mismatch in the supply and demand of digital skills in the UK, which will be accentuated by the economic fallout of the pandemic. To continue to fill the tech and tech-enabled jobs that will prove key for our economic recovery, the UK needs a flexible range of education options that support different parts of the population with differing skill levels. We can look to opening access to geospatial skills as part of a greater push towards digital skills of the future by:
- Change the narrative and framing around digital skills. techUK wants to do more to highlight that data skills are a facilitator for people to do jobs rather than for jobs themselves. Digital runs throughout every part of an organisation and therefore every employee. By demystifying what digital skills are and focus on their analytical nature, we can further encourage its uptake with a strong narrative. As tech becomes an integral part of work in sectors such as health, climate & sustainability, and financial services, there is an imperative to foster cross-pollination between tech and other areas in our approach to digital skills to ensure people have the knowledge to drive forward progress and help realise the full potential of technology.
- Integrate into school curriculum: There is an opportunity to introduce and integrate geospatial and digital skills within the school curriculum in a way that has tech industry support. This would signal to young people that these skills are not only important for tech professional careers but increasingly important for many jobs in many industries.
- Empower people with digital skills to transition to high-growth tech jobs. It is vital that we have the skills needed to seize on this opportunity and meet the speed and scale of innovations and new waves of automation. As we live through another national lockdown, more than 1.6 million people are currently out of work in the UK, and the unemployment rate has hit a three-year high at 4.8%. Despite this worrying situation, the tech sector continues to be strong. techUK surveyed people’s attitudes towards tech during lockdown. Respondents to the polling overwhelmingly agreed with over 80% stating that digital skills will become more important over the next 12 months with 27% ‘strongly agreeing’ with this. More importantly, the recognition of the importance of digital skills appears to translate across to wanting to do something about it. In the surveys, 58% of respondents reported being interested in gaining more digital skills in the next 12 months. We need to build on people’s motivations to learn and pivot them to digital careers.
- Work together to expand short modular digital skills courses. In particular those accredited by industry and employers to open up more accessible and affordable pathways for people looking to retrain for digital roles. More modular, flexible learning can offer easier avenues for people transitioning between sectors or looking to add to their geospatial skills with further digital elements.
A combination of these actions will ensure we widen the understanding of geospatial as a cross-sector skill to help sustain a skilled workforce.
You can read more insights from techUK's #GeospatialFuture campaign here!
Nimmi Patel
Nimmi Patel is the Head of Skills, Talent and Diversity at techUK. She works on all things skills, education, and future of work policy, focusing on upskilling and retraining. Nimmi is also an Advisory Board member of Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (digit). The Centre research aims to increase understanding of how digital technologies are changing work and the implications for employers, workers, job seekers and governments.
Laura Foster
Laura is techUK’s Associate Director for Technology and Innovation.
Authors
Nimmi Patel
Nimmi works on all things skills, education, and future of work policy, focusing on upskilling and retraining. Nimmi is also an Advisory Board member of Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (digit). The Centre research aims to increase understanding of how digital technologies are changing work and the implications for employers, workers, job seekers and governments.
