Graduate apprenticeships are helping plug digital skills gaps in Scotland, particularly in the business critical area of cyber security. As part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week (7-11 March), The Open University in Scotland (OUiS) hosted an employer webinar to talk about the current digital skills landscape in Scotland and the role of apprenticeships in addressing skills challenges.
Suzanne McQuade, Business Relationships Manager at the OUiS was chair of the webinar, called Can Graduate Apprenticeships address Scotland’s digital skills gaps? She was joined by William Murray, Skills Planning Manager (Digital) at Skills Development Scotland, Louise MacBean, Apprentice Programmes Manager at Capgemini and Andrea Robertson, Security Team Manager at Capgemini.
The OUiS is helping Scottish employers address these shortages through work-based learning programmes such as its Graduate Apprenticeship in Cyber Security – available at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
William agreed that Graduate Apprenticeships have a very important role to play in ensuring employers have access to the skills they need now and in the future. “Co-designed with employers to support critical occupations and growth areas of the Scottish economy, the aim of Graduate Apprenticeships is to ensure that industry has a supply of highly skilled and qualified individuals and aligns talent provision with current and emerging skills shortages.”
He said the apprenticeships also support the Scottish Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee, an initiative that aims to offer every 16-24 year old in Scotland the opportunity of a job, apprenticeship, training programme or volunteering opportunity, set up to combat the fallout from Covid-19.
Read the full write-up or watch the webinar here.