Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) businesses and (b) organisations he has met to discuss the effect of the fourth industrial revolution on skills needs; and if he will make a statement.

As referenced in the 2017 Digital Strategy, in order “for the UK to be a world-leading digital economy, that works for everyone, it is crucial that everyone has the digital capabilities they need to fully participate in society.” We are working with a wide range of partners across all sectors. This includes working with organisations carrying out research into the skills that are needed by the current and future workforce including Ecorys, Nesta, The Royal Society, the Oxford Internet Institute and Burning Glass amongst many others.

We have also established the Digital Skills Partnership, bringing together organisations from across all sectors to improve digital skills and capability levels across the skills spectrum. Organisations on the DSP’s Board include Google, Microsoft, BT, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, AbilityNet, Good Things Foundation, Tech Nation, the Federation of Small Businesses, Microsoft, and Nominet. A priority for the Digital Skills Partnership is to work with regional stakeholders, including SMEs and charitable organisations, and to incentivise the creation of Local Digital Skills Partnerships so that regional partners can better understand the skills needs of their local economies and communities.

Additionally, the Government’s National Retraining Scheme is an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult retraining is driven by a key partnership between business (Confederation of British Industry), workers (Trades Union Congress) and Government, to set the strategic direction of the Scheme and oversees its implementation.