Collaboration is critical to the continued success of Scotland’s flourishing technology industry within Dundee and the surrounding areas, according to industry expert, Kirsty Scott, who presented at the recent Employers Technology Forum at the University of Dundee.
Employers, skills providers and politicians came together for the inaugural Forum, hosted by the University’s Graduate Apprenticeships team, which aims to connect key players within the sector, including the Scottish Government’s Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy, Kate Forbes.
Currently the technology sector employs more than 70,000 people in Scotland, with employers ranging from small start-ups to global corporations. The Forum exists to champion Dundee as a hub for the technology industry, with a view to establishing Dundee and the surround regions as a leading location for cutting edge technology companies.
Kirsty Scott, the University of Dundee’s Industrial Liaison Officer, said: “The technology sector is experiencing considerable growth within Scotland and Dundee is at the heart of that progress,” she said.
“To maintain that momentum there is a need to bring together employers, educational institutions such as ourselves, and politicians, to ensure that we are striving towards the same goals.
“Technology industries have to plan ahead and knowing what to focus their resources on can be hard to predict. That is why bringing stakeholders together can be so productive, as it allows everybody to state what challenges they are facing and what can be done to address them, whether it is the need to address a skills gap within the workforce or an infrastructure issue that is preventing growth and development.”
A host of industry and academic experts, with representatives from ScotlandIs, Banntech Ltd, SCDI, the Scottish Government and further and higher education establishments answered a host of questions at the Forum. Kirsty added, “Technology events such as this usually take place in the Central Belt, hosting our symposium helped to highlight the wealth of skills and facilities in Dundee. There are a lot of exciting developments happening here, and by welcoming businesses from across the local area we were able to help share some of these success stories.”
University of Dundee
Nobel Prize winning poet and honorary graduate Seamus Heaney has described the University of Dundee as ‘having its head in the clouds and its feet firmly on the ground.’ The ability to be both aspirational and down-to earth and to blend ground-breaking intellectual achievement with practical applications, has given the University its distinctive character.
