RESTARTING the Digital Skills Partnership, launching a Digital Skills Fund and developing a ‘skills escalator’ will help the Island to maintain a ‘productive, sustainable workforce capable of competing on the international scene,’ according to the chief executive of Digital Jersey.

Speaking following the release of a report, which analysed the current digital skills landscape in Jersey, Tony Moretta said that the recommendations within the document must be implemented ‘collaboratively and with focus’.

The organisation’s Digital Skills Strategy 2023-2028 updates a previous five-year strategy by the Marchmont Employment and Skills Observatory at the University of Exeter in 2018, and reviews the progress made since then, while outlining ways in which the Island can ‘maintain its momentum in developing a sustainable expert workforce’.

The recommendations include:

• Restarting the Digital Skills Partnership and enhancing the role of Digital Jersey, with the organisation acting as Jersey’s lead on digital transformation, and as the link between employers and educators.

• Developing the Digital Jersey Academy to broaden impact and focus on workplace skills, with selected amendments to courses, the establishment of a Digital Skills Fund, and a greater focus on hybrid working and self-employed or micro businesses.

• Maximising the use of Labour Market Insights to understand the industry’s evolving needs.

• Developing a ‘skills escalator’ to increase the uptake of digital career choices, raise the profile of digital careers and highlight where provision is missing in the short and longer-term.

• Driving the promotion of, and engagement with, digital skills among employers including working at C-suite level to promote digital awareness and also targeting students, educators, parents and guardians, and Jersey nationals living abroad.

• Developing training opportunities for all types of business, embedding essential skills across the workforce in Jersey, targeting non-tech-savvy businesses, financial sector businesses, start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Speakers at the launch of the of the strategy also challenged businesses to better understand their digital skills gap. In a poll at the event, almost 60% of attendees indicated that their organisation would be ‘very affected’ by a shortage of digital skills.

Mr Moretta said: ‘Our new report recognises that we have made significant progress over the past five years. However, it is also very clear that the need for digital skills is growing exponentially.

‘We have in Jersey an extremely high-quality infrastructure in place and a robust strategy, but now is the time for action. It is crucial that, as an island, we work together, collaboratively and with focus, to implement those recommendations across all areas of the economy. Certainly from a Digital Jersey perspective, we will not rest until we have that strong, digital skills base in place. Investing in digital education is essential if we are to continue to position ourselves as a thriving, internationally dynamic jurisdiction.’ The event also saw the launch of the Government of Jersey’s Digital Education Strategy, which assesses the current state of technology use in schools and looks forward to a future of innovation, collaboration and increasing opportunity for learners to follow a digital career pathway.

Rory Steel, head of the Digital Jersey Academy, added: ‘The key message to come out of this event was the importance of joined-up thinking in adopting a culture of lifelong digital learning – from the curriculum in schools and young people, through to the public sector and business. Creating that culture must come from the top – including from the government and business leaders – working together to embrace digital skills and position digital education as a core part of our identity as a forward-thinking, innovative island.’