Developing a skilled workforce for the future

The Institutes of Technology Network is playing a key role in delivering the future skills needed for the UK manufacturing and engineering workforce. By identifying the future skills needed in the manufacturing and engineering workforce and building training systems for them to be met, the Emerging Skills Project is enabling UK businesses to better exploit emerging technologies and remain competitive.

January 2022

Funded by the Department for Education as part of the Government’s Skills for Jobs plan, and led by the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC), we are working alongside others to develop cutting-edge training content, focusing on new and emerging technologies such as additive manufacturing, electrification, AI and robotics. This is a core part of our mission to help local organisations and learners take greater advantage of the work of UK Centres of Innovation like the HVMC.

A list of available courses is on the project website here.

“The Emerging Skills Project is a really important project for us as it drives both collaboration and staff CPD, and it supports our teaching staff and maintains their sector expertise, so critical to our work and engagement with employers. We are really pleased to be involved as it compliments and enhances our employer offer ensuring our portfolio of provision remains flexible, agile, relevant and delivered by experts.”

Rosa Wells
Executive Director of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Institute of Technology

A report published by the Centre for Economic Performance in 2021 cited that the benefits of innovation include increased business resilience to economic shocks like Covid, whilst a barrier to adopting new technology is the lack of a skilled workforce.

By identifying the future skills needed in the manufacturing and engineering workforce and building training systems for them to be met, the Emerging Skills Project is enabling UK businesses to better exploit emerging technologies and remain competitive. The Project is based on international research and analysis that demonstrated the importance of establishing a Skills Value Chain integrating government, industry, and education providers in producing a workforce fit for the future.

Delivery of the technical training units is already underway and is available to any employer and their employees who will benefit from the course content and is at no cost to employers.

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