Viewpoint
It is estimated that the UK could be facing an ICT skills shortage of 160,000 by 2020. ITP Board Director, Mark Bond, hosted a roundtable debate at the recent Total Telecom Congress on how the industry can tackle this growing concern, here are the highlights.
In an industry facing significant change driven by new technology, the skills gap is undoubtedly widening. Consumer demands, coupled with new technology, are putting increasing pressure on telcos to be able to deliver these services, and provide skilled, trained professionals to do so. So how can the industry work together to close this gap as we move towards digital business models? At the recent Total Telecoms Congress, professionals from a range of large and small companies debated the issue – and what should be done collectively to resolve it.
Stripping it back to basics, the panel were asked whether they agreed with the premise of the question – are they experiencing the increasing demand for more services and skills? Unanimously, all revealed that the digital skills gap is being felt across all areas of their businesses. They are not alone, this is echoed across the country; the gap between the number of ICT jobs and the demand potential is increasing from a gap of 470,000 in 2016 to 750,000 by 2020.
Whilst the panel acknowledged there will be ongoing job opportunities in the sector, it is the changing nature of skills which is the primary concern – the result of an increasing overlap between IT and telecoms skills. It was agreed that over the coming years there will be more demand for skills in technical areas, such as mobile, cloud, apps, big data, cyber security, and the Internet of Things. The consensus was that these areas are no longer separate, and that the industry must acknowledge their convergence.
Mark Bond posed the question, what do we mean by digital business models? Do we mean a move from a ‘traditional telco model’ to a digital business model of Facebook, Google, Skype? Or is this more about a move to IP comms and cloud computing from more traditional PSTN telecoms technologies, and the blurring of boundaries between IT and comms industries? The panel agreed that the blurring of boundaries between traditional telecoms and IT is key to understanding how to identify the skills gap our industry is facing.
He went on to ask, if we agree that there is a significant skills gap, what can be done to fill it? The discussion highlighted many examples in practice, however many of these are individual businesses developing their own specific training schemes. Most of this is done in isolation and specifically for their own needs. Therefore, there needs to be a greater level of common standards and qualifications. In order to do this, there needs to be more engagement with traditional educational establishments, along with the government. The panel agreed this was the only way to develop a set of common standards across the industry.
Apprenticeships were discussed, and it was agreed they work well as a tool to bridge the gap and should continue to do so. Some panelists raised concerns however over the lack of tools available to professionals to constantly retrain in the later stages of their careers, and that a lack of continued development in this space needs to be addressed.
Whilst there are huge changes afoot in the IT and telecoms industries, the over-arching conclusion was that they can no longer be regarded as separate. Going forward, the industry will need to ensure it is recruiting and training professionals who are able to deal with the demands of these converging areas.
The Total Telecom Congress returns to London in 2017, find out more at www.totaltele.com/congress
Visit the Institute of Telecom Professionals website
