1.1. This document contains the written evidence of the Welsh Government in relation to your inquiry into ICT, competitiveness and skills in the UK.
2.1. The pace of change through the daily development of new and emerging technologies is driving a greater need for Wales and the UK to remain competitive on a global stage. Many of the current business products or models did not exist a few years ago which has led to a considerable impact on the skills requirements of the workforce. Increased numbers of businesses, across all sectors, are investing more to enhance their use of technology and this has led an increased demand for technology skills.
2.2. Changing technology is also leading to changing job profiles – such as Big Data and Cloud computing specialists, rather than classic ICT jobs. Increasing levels of e-Crime is creating one of the key challenges for the online world. Businesses must have specialist skills to protect themselves and their clients from cyber-attacks, including the knowledge, tools and ability to prevent and deal with common cyber risks and to be able to safeguard digital information.
2.3. Therefore in terms of future trends the Welsh Government considers that cloud, mobility, data analytics and cyber are the technologies that business must keep pace with in terms of how they develop their products, services and upskill employees to maximise their use. Businesses in Wales must have access to a talent pool with the right skills to meet their current and future needs. Particularly as the digital economy accounts for over half of UK GVA and technology will underpin the majority of future job creation across all sectors of the economy.
2.4. Wales, as is the wider UK and Europe, is struggling to meet the ICT needs of industry with regard to the availability of appropriately skilled recruits. We anticipate that more than 3,000 ICT trained recruits are needed each year just to meet existing demand from Wales’ growing IT sector. Furthermore research by e-skills UK shows that the utilisation of ICT by businesses in Wales could add £1.5bn to the Welsh economy by 2020, translating into 18,000 new jobs across many occupations and sectors over the next 5 to 7 years. We fear there could be a huge gap of skilled ICT workers to fill those jobs. Without action Wales could miss out on the economic opportunities presented by technology.
2.5. The WG Monthly Labour Market Report for February 2014 from the Learning and Skills Observatory Wales (LSO) focused on the ICT sector in Wales and provided many of the following headlines:
2.6. There is significant evidence that ICT education and skills provision (across the UK) is not meeting all of industry’s needs. In terms of skills that are hardest to find e-skills UK has stated that IT and Telecoms related skills shortages tended to be associated with Programmers/Software Developers and Web Design/Development professionals.
2.7. Employers report that the technical skills that were proving the hardest to fill were .Net/ASP.NET, Dynamics, SharePoint, Visual Basic/Visual Studio. C#, PHP and VMWare. This shortage is no different in Wales and many of our companies report difficulty in finding suitable candidates with the necessary IT skills.
2.8. Organisational readiness and agility to take advantage of new ICT and digital technologies will also require management and leadership capabilities within and across the wider workplace that recognise and exploit the potential of ICT as a supporter or enabler for growth. A high percentage of existing workers are, therefore, increasingly likely to need enhanced ICT skills that allow them to exploit the technology to work more productively.
2.9. The Welsh Government is taking steps to upskill sections of the ICT workforce. In response to demand identified by employers across Wales, the Welsh Government invested over £1.3million of its own budget and European Social Funds (ESF), in an innovative higher level entry / CPD programme that seeks to address the current and future skills demands of the ICT sector in Wales. Working in collaboration, the Department for Education and Skills and the Department for Economy, Science and Transport, have funded two pilot programmes delivered by e-Skills UK which have better equipped over 450 people with the specific ICT skills needed by industry.
2.10. Welsh Government aims to help learners to develop the skill confidence and maturity to navigate this new world and make use of the opportunities it provides. We have invested (c.) £39m through our Learning in Digital Wales (LiDW) Grant to provide enhanced internet connectivity to all schools in Wales. To date, all local authorities have benefitted from improvements in core connectivity, 86% of schools have received internet upgrades and 91% of schools have benefitted from in-school Wi-Fi infrastructure.
2.11. We have established a National Digital Learning Council to provide expert and strategic guidance on the use of digital technology in teaching and learning in Wales. The remit of the Council is to guide the implementation of the LiDW programme and to promote and support the use of digital resources and technologies by learners and teachers.
2.12. Learning Wales is a web-based resource designed to support teachers and practitioners across Wales to improve standards in schools, colleges and post 16 institutions. Learning Wales was originally launched in September 2012 as a high quality resource for school teachers and practitioners and has recently been improved and extended to include information and resources aimed at the post 16 sector.
2.13. In addition, the Welsh Government is investing over £4 million in the National Digital Content Repository and the all Wales learning platforms Hwb and Hwb+, which will provide access to digital tools and resources for learners aged 3 to 19 across Wales. Hwb is the bilingual National Digital Content Repository which hosts digital classroom tools and thousands of digital classroom resources. Hwb+ is a bilingual Welsh and English online learning platform.
2.14. The Welsh Government is strongly committed to safeguarding children and young people in Wales. We are intensifying activities to promote child Internet safety, to ensure that children, parents and adults who work with children in Wales know how to use the Internet safely and responsibly.
2.15. The Wales Education Data Improvement Initiative Project (WEDIIP) has just been initiated. This is a ‘proof of concept’ (PoC) activity which seeks to determine how local authority collaborative working is able to realise greater efficiency through the use of joint management information systems (MIS).
2.16. As part of the non-statutory skills framework ICT in the Foundation Phase is taught across the Areas of Learning. Children’s skills are developed through active learning experiences that provide context and develop their understanding of how and why ICT is used. More recently in the revised Areas of Learning for Language, literacy and communication and Mathematics Development, ICT has been included in the range of experiences to encourage, where resources permit, children to develop their basic skills through emergent technologies.
2.17. Through the teaching of ICT, at key stage 2 and key stage 3, learners should be given the opportunity to use an increasing range of ICT tools and resources to find, process and communicate relevant information from a variety of safe and suitable sources; to develop and communicate their ideas in appropriate ways with a developing sense of purpose and audience, to use a range of ICT skills and resources to find, analyse, communicate, present and share information and become increasingly aware of the social, ethical, moral and economic effects of ICT in the wider society.
2.18. ICT, coding and the use of digital technology has already become integral to the delivery of the curriculum in many Welsh schools. A number of steps are presently being made to encourage further growth in this area. The Welsh Government has allocated £450,000 of funding for the delivery of computer coding workshops to pupils and teachers in every secondary school in Wales. These workshops will provide opportunities for teachers and learners to develop hands on experience of a range of coding activities and tools including Raspberry Pi and .Net Gadgeteer. The aim of these workshops is to improve the teaching of computing in secondary schools in particular ensuring that every secondary school has one or more teachers with direct experience of working with code.
2.19. In March 2014, the Minister for Education and Skills appointed Professor Graham Donaldson to undertake a comprehensive, independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. He is tasked with putting forward recommendations for a clear vision for education in Wales, from Foundation Phase to Key Stage 4. Professor Donaldson is considering the recommendations from several task and finish groups including those put forward by the ICT steering group. He has also met with the co-chairs of the ICT steering group, Stuart Arthur, Dr Tom Crick and Janet Hayward, as part of his evidence gathering process. Professor Donaldson is due to report his findings to the Minister for Education and Skills at the beginning of 2015.
2.20. Welsh employers have expressed concern over the relevance of what is being taught in schools, the resultant effect on young people being ‘switched off’ careers in the ICT sector and their lack of the necessary digital skills for the current and future jobs market.
2.21. At the request of the Welsh Government an ICT Steering Group was established to review ICT curriculum in Wales. A report was published on 4 October 2013 recommending the need for ICT Curriculum changes. The report contained 12 recommendations including the suggestion that a new subject named Computing should be created to replace ICT. This new subject will disaggregate into two main areas: Computer Science (CS) and Information Technology (IT)
2.22. The Welsh Government’s ‘Programme for Government’ committed to creating a superfast broadband network in areas of Wales, the resulting Superfast Cymru Programme is the largest partnership of its kind in the UK, working to give, when combined with commercial roll-outs, 96% of premises in Wales access to fast fibre broadband by 2016.
2.23. The Welsh Government has worked with LINX (the London Internet Exchange), Cardiff Council and other partners to create an internet exchange that enables internet service providers to exchange internet traffic between their networks.
2.24. Digital Literacy, creativity and innovation are at the heart of the transferable skills, which are central to the revised Welsh Baccalaureate and Essential Skills qualifications. A primary objective of the revisions to these qualifications is to ensure that learning and assessment are relevant and engaging so that learners are well-equipped to meet the anticipated challenges of life in the twenty first century.
2.25. The revised AS and A level qualifications in Computer Science will be taught in Wales from September 2015. The content of this specification[1] reflects the views of higher education and other stakeholders.
2.26. The New Deal for Practitioners will be announced early in the New Year and is the workforce development plan to support the delivery of Qualified for Life.[2] The New Deal will focus on the development of the education workforce in Wales and will support the implementation of the recommendations from Professor John Furlong and Professor Graham Donaldson.
2.27. A report on the review of ITET in Wales in 2013 recommended that we continue to utilise and maintain incentives as a flexible measure that can be adjusted annually to encourage the recruitment of high performing candidates in specific areas of need. The report findings concluded that the incentives targeted to the highest achievers in terms of subject specialism, degree classification, and that incentives along with the adoption of new initiatives are essential measures that are needed to promote teaching as a career for the very best graduates in Wales.
2.28. The Welsh Government is currently considering the scope of the financial incentives available to support Initial Teacher Education and Training during academic year 2015/16. To support recruitment in academic year 2014/15 we have made incentives of up to £15,000 available, depending on degree classification, to graduates undertaking postgraduate course of teacher training in ICT/Computer science in Wales. Postgraduate ITET students are also eligible to receive the Tuition Fee Grant of £5,535.
2.29. ICT/Computer science is also a designated recruitment priority subject for the employment-based Graduate Teacher Programme and participating schools can receive support toward salary costs.
2.30. Recruitment to intake targets in ICT and computer science subjects remain challenging. Initial data for recruitment in 2014/15 academic year shows that ITET providers are experiencing some difficulties in recruiting to target in IT related courses and Welsh Government is considering options for more effective targeting toward recruitment priority subjects.
2.31. Our Traineeship programme aims to support young people gain sustained employment by helping them develop confidence and motivation, improve their skills levels through the delivery of NVQs in any chosen occupational area, as well as gaining employability skills and valuable work experience, aiding transition into employment. The programme is for 16-18 year olds not otherwise engaged in post-16 education or employment and offers a tailored package of support for a young person, ensuring that a wide range of skills are developed.
2.32. The programme seeks to improve skills levels through the delivery of entry level qualifications up to NVQs Level 1 in their chosen occupational area and includes the delivery of essential skills qualifications to enhance their learning experience. The Essential Skills Wales suite contains learning on communications, application of number, ICT and wider key skills.
2.33. These skills include the development of any ICT skills which are deemed to be relevant or necessary to the occupational focus. The programme aims to ensure that the young person is able to sustain employment in an increasingly digital environment; developing the necessary skills and confidence to succeed.
2.34. Learners on Engagement Traineeships can undertake qualifications at Entry Level in the Qualifications & Credit Framework (QCF) and National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and wider key skills within Essential Skill Wales qualifications at level 1. For a Level 1 Traineeship, learners can undertake approved qualifications at Level 1, or an Essential Skills Wales qualification at level 1 or 2.
2.35. In response to the Review of Qualifications, the current Essential Skills Wales (ESW) and wider Key Skills qualification will be replaced from September 2015 by a new suite of qualifications encompassing seven essential skill areas, which will include digital literacy as a replacement to the existing ICT element.
2.36. The Jobs Growth Wales (JGW) programme does not specifically target opportunities within a particular sector, although we have worked with a number of micro businesses/SME’s within the ICT sector. These JGW opportunities allow young people to gain valuable skills and work experience which will enable progress to their future careers in the ICT sector.
2.37. The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales supports the development of the higher education sector’s information and communications technology through a number of initiatives. In particular, HEFCW:
2.38. Technology helps provide the platform to showcase to the wider world the innovative uses of technology being made by Welsh education providers to enhance the learning experience. It has made the delivery of higher education more accessible to, and flexible for, a range of learners across Wales and, in some cases, increased rates of student retention. On-line fora give greater access for higher education providers to engage in pan-Wales developments, such as Open Education Resources Wales, and to engage with developments led by UK-wide organisations such as Jisc and the Higher Education Academy.
2.39. One positive impact on students is the Virtual Learning Environment. VLEs have provided students with a single, streamlined gateway to learning materials and resources, which because they are available on-line, can be accessed at their convenience. This flexibility is often enhanced through the use of apps, Wi-Fi and/or bring your own device (BYOD), which allows students to take full advantage of their institution’s e-resources. For staff, VLEs have given them greater flexibility when managing their courses and contacting the students. Making materials and resources available through these systems has allowed staff to tailor modules more fluidly and adapt to students’ suggestions.
2.40. The development of Open Educational Resources for the Welsh-medium e-learning portal, 'Y Porth’, has promoted the innovative use of technology in the sector and is a leading example within, and beyond Wales, of good practice in promoting open access to materials. The VLE on 'Y Porth' and a network of interconnected Learning Spaces has allowed universities across Wales to share resources and deliver modules collaboratively
2.41. The Essential Skills in the Workplace programme is a European Social Fund (ESF) programme led by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in Welsh Government. It is designed to address the high proportion of adults in Wales without the necessary literacy, numeracy and ICT skills to function effectively in the workplace. It can be arranged to take place at the employer’s workplace at times to suit employers and employees alike. The programme aims to encourage employer engagement by raising awareness of the benefits of addressing low skill levels within the workplace. The key objectives of the programme are:
2.42. The Wales Union Learning Fund (WULF) was launched in April 1999 in order to build capacity within the Union movement to maximise learning engagement with both individuals and employers. Since its inception, the WULF programme has assisted and encouraged a wide range of learning. The programme focuses on increasing the take-up of learning by non-traditional learners; and overcoming barriers to learning, such as personal, occupational or work based factors. The delivery of WULF’s objectives is supported by Union Learning Representatives (ULRs).
2.43. Through WULF, the Unions, employers and ULRs have worked together to create workplace learning centres. These offer individuals of all ages, across Wales, an opportunity to develop or refresh their skills. They also offer an opportunity for individuals to access and use the ICT equipment available in the centres. Many of these centres are open to the public to allow both the community and union members to access learning opportunities.
2.44. In 2014, the Unison union opened their first Digital Learning Hub in Wrexham, and the Unite union has worked with an employer in Rhondda Cynon Taf to open a Learning Centre at which is available for their employees but to also be open to individuals with disabilities/health conditions within the RCT community.
2.45. Good progress is being made to tackle digital exclusion in Wales. The National Survey for Wales 2013-14 tells us there are 21% of Welsh adults who do not regularly use the internet, compared to 34% in 2010. Some 18% have never used it.
2.46. Our Digital Inclusion Delivery Plan sets out targets and actions to reduce digital exclusion amongst Welsh adults to 18% in 2015 and 13% in 2017. The 2017 target date aligns with the Department for Work and Pensions target for getting Universal Credit claimants online, which we know will pose a challenge for many.
2.47. Digital inclusion continues to be embedded across other key related Welsh Government policy areas including our Older People’s Strategy, Tackling Poverty Action Plan and Framework for Action on Independent Living. Digital Inclusion is one of the five key integrated strands which feed into the Welsh Government’s Digital Wales Strategy.
2.48. We have a strong record in Wales of investing in digital inclusion activities across our communities to ensure as many people as possible benefit from the opportunities offered by the latest technologies. Our current European funded Digital Inclusion programme, Communities 2.0, helps to break down the barriers for our most digitally excluded groups in society to get online. The programme also helps social enterprises and community and voluntary organisations adopt and exploit digital technologies. The numerous case studies on the Communties 2.0 website demonstrate how the programme is having a positive impact on people’s lives.
2.49. Communities 2.0 prioritises support to older and disabled people, social housing tenants and the unemployed and working age economically inactive. Through community based sessions, Communities 2.0 provides invaluable support to help individuals overcome barriers, build their confidence and create opportunities for them to use new skills. Sessions range from absolute beginners courses where individuals learn basic internet skills, including how to use a keyboard and mouse, to more advanced digital skills. To date, the programme has supported over 52,000 individuals to get online.
2.50. Communities 2.0 works closely with partners across the public, private and third sectors to widen the reach of the programme and make activities more sustainable. The Programme has brokered mutually advantageous relationships, like the strong partnership which has developed with public libraries and Jobcentre Plus to ensure claimants are supported to acquire the basic internet skills required to search and apply for jobs.
2.51. In addition to working with and through willing partners, key elements of good practice contributing to the programme’s success include finding appropriate “hooks”. The use of engaging cultural content like the ‘People’s Collection’, which is a website full of fascinating photographs, sound recordings, documents, videos and stories about the history and heritage of Wales and its people, is one such example. Increasingly, people are requesting support to help them use Skype to keep in touch with friends and family and want to learn more about social media. Developing and offering provision in small informal sessions with no ongoing commitment and making effective use of volunteers based on sound models for “Training the Trainer” have also proved successful.
2.52. The Communities 2.0 programme ends in March 2015. A successor digital inclusion programme is in development, which will focus on the digital inclusion of individuals by building on the strong partnership working and co-ordination activities undertaken by Communties 2.0.
2.53. In addition to developing local initiatives, Communities 2.0 have brokered national initiatives to support our priority groups. The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) Cymru ‘Get Connected’ Project, supported by Communities 2.0, was particularly successful and helped over 1,500 people with sight lost to use technology to enable them to live more independently. This project formed the basis for RNIB’s ‘Online Today’ programme, which recently received £5.8m from the Big Lottery’s Basic Digital Skills Fund.
2.54. The Welsh HE sector has faced challenges common to many sectors eg, resourcing issues; addressing preconceived perceptions among staff and students on the use of technology; and recognising that it can take time to embed activities into existing learning and teaching practice. However, technology has had a positive influence on many aspects of the Welsh learning and teaching experience. From the more common uses of technology, such as VLEs, to the more ground-breaking ways of engaging the student, Welsh higher education is helping to make a real difference to the way students learn and interact with their institutions. It is also helping to promote the Welsh language, improve teaching methods and support institutional good practice. The challenges for the future are to build on the practices and innovations already introduced and establish technology as a normal part of the mainstream provision of processes and practices.
2.55. The Programme has developed local initiatives to tackle digital exclusion on a county basis. The Programme has worked with key local stakeholders to develop partnership agreements which support each local initiative. This has been particularly successful in achieving stakeholder buy-in to help secure the sustainability of the initiatives.
3.1. A fundamental and key challenge facing the ICT sector in Wales is the need to address the increasing shortage of qualified, time-served ICT professionals across all sectors in Wales. With ICT playing an increasingly important role in the growth of other sectors, a shortage of the right skills will have a far reaching impact on the economy of Wales.
3.2. Industry believes that future market opportunities will be led by developments in new services, platforms, data and networks and the ability of all sectors of the economy to be able to take advantage of commercialisation opportunities.
3.3. The pace of change through the daily development of new and emerging technologies is driving a greater need for Wales to remain competitive on a global stage. The Welsh Government therefore agrees that ICT skills must keep pace with these technological advancements as a strong ICT sector is critical to Wales.
3.4. The digital skills requirement is predicted to evolve rapidly and in response to those changes, the Welsh Government has considered the range of skills that would be required by the ICT sector, skills for the digital economy and social skills that can be applied when technology changes.
The Policy Statement on Skills, launched on 30 January 2014, sets out a vision for employment and skills policy in Wales over the next 10 years and the responsible action needed by all stakeholders to develop a resilient, responsive and sustainable post-19 skills system. It also recognises the tough choices ahead if Wales is to deliver the skills needed to raise productivity levels and reduce barriers into employment.
A fundamental commitment within the Policy Statement was to publish a Skills Implementation Plan (SIP) focused on the key actions to be taken forward by the Welsh Government working with employers, individuals, trade unions and delivery partners. The SIP was launched on 15 July 2014 with the key aim of supporting Wales’ evolution into a highly skilled nation and to create the conditions which will allow businesses in Wales to grow and flourish.
Our ambition remains to develop a skills system in Wales that supports our future competitiveness, helps us evolve into a highly skilled society as well as tackle poverty, and is sustainable against the backdrop of ever scarcer resources. Our primary focus will continue to be on increasing productivity, reducing barriers into work and supporting people into sustainable employment.
The actions described in the SIP set the foundation for developing a sustainable skills system in Wales capable of responding to an increasingly global market for skills. It also prepares the ground for conditions beyond the next round of European funding.
Higher levels of skills will be important to our future competitiveness as a nation. In reviewing intelligence available from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills Working Futures series, the indications are that, over the next decade, jobs in Wales will become more highly skilled with a reduction in the number of jobs requiring low or no skills.
Our focus is therefore on raising skills levels across the board and developing competencies in higher levels of skills. This includes raising skills levels from level 2 to level 3, for example, and is about supporting individuals to progress into higher forms of employment.
To monitor progress, we have put forward a range of indicators that will underpin the delivery of the SIP. Published in September 2014, these ‘Skills Performance Measures’ are focused on the following four key areas:
In addition, it is recognised that if Wales is to close the gap with other parts of the UK in terms of employer investment in skills, it is important that we take steps to ensure that more employers are investing in the skills of their workforce.
Our co-investment framework, published in November 2014, recognises the varied and wider range of investments being made in skills and thus focuses action on three areas:
11 December 2014
[1] http://www.wjec.co.uk/supporting/wjec-qualifications-in-wales.html
[2] http://wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/allsectorpolicies/qualified-for-life-an-educational-improvement-plan/?lang=en