The Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Hartree Centre and Coventry University are to explore opportunities to deliver a national Digital and AI Skills Network for the UK.
With an initial focus on the West Midlands, the collaboration will look to understand the current level of understanding and adoption of advanced digital technologies. This will identify and address regional and national upskilling needs.
By harnessing both partners’ expertise, facilities and resources, the collaboration seeks to create a knowledge sharing network. This will provide support for organisations for upskilling in key areas such as data science and artificial intelligence (AI).
Training the next generation
The aim of the Digital and AI Skills Network would be to explore the development of a long-term regional skills and technology initiative.
The aim is to build a network of collaborators dedicated to providing impactful support to public and private sector organisations in digital skills development.
Using the new collaboration’s strong track record of supporting UK businesses to learn about and adopt digital technologies, UK organisations would have access to a range of:
- training courses
- webinars
- workshops
- events
These initiatives will aim to help advance UK industry and equip the next generation of digital experts.
Bringing a hub to the West Midlands
The West Midlands has a digital sector that is growing rapidly and faces a number of challenges that affect the adoption of transformative digital technologies.
The work with Coventry University would aim to develop a long-term regional skills and technology hub to support public and private sector organisations in a number of areas, such as:
- machine learning and AI
- data science
- visual computing
- cloud and high-performance computing
A digital collaboration
Professor Kate Royse, Director of the STFC Hartree Centre, said:
It’s great to be starting this journey with Coventry University, to look into creating a knowledge sharing network dedicated to upskilling UK industry and the public sector, starting with the West Midlands.
As the UK’s only supercomputing centre dedicated to supporting industry, I believe strongly in our ability to collaborate with Coventry University to provide high quality training, add real value to UK organisations and help to address a national digital skills gap.
Digital transformation
Professor Elena Gaura, Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor Research at Coventry University, added:
At Coventry University, we believe that AI will be a revolutionary force for the benefit of all parts of society.
We are well positioned to deliver cutting-edge AI training and digital expertise to both the public and private sectors, building on a deep multi-sectorial understanding of AI.
This potential collaboration is designed to enable us to lead the charge in equipping the next generation with the skills needed to harness AI’s full potential, ensuring that UK organisations stay at the forefront of digital transformation – today and tomorrow.
Driving digital and AI skills development
Professor Paul Noon Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Innovation) at Coventry University, said:
Coventry University is excited to be exploring opportunities to work with the Hartree Centre on this timely project, which aims to deliver Digital and AI Skills to create better futures for the West Midlands and wider UK workforce.
This activity is intended to bring together the expertise of our colleges, research centres and our track record of skills delivery as exemplified by the Institute of Coding and the Electric Revolution Skills Hub.
AI and supercomputing training network
Through the Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation programme and Coventry University’s existing work it is anticipated the network would have access to a range of training and events.
These will be run throughout the year to open up and exploit the potential of supercomputing, data analytics and AI technologies to new audiences. The aim is to upskill UK industry and train the next generation of digital experts.
Coventry University brings to the potential network its diverse, agile and dynamic team of experts. These experts conduct and share research in human-centred AI, to create meaningful cultural and societal impact and positive change.
If you would like to find out more about the Digital and AI Skills Network or want to get involved, book your place at the launch event on 6 November 2024 at Coventry University.
Further information
About the STFC Hartree Centre
The Hartree Centre helps UK businesses and organisations of any size to explore and adopt supercomputing, data science and AI technologies for enhanced productivity, smarter innovation and economic growth.
Backed by significant UK government funding and strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as IBM, Atos and the University of Liverpool, the Hartree Centre is home to some of the most advanced digital technologies and experts in the UK.
The Hartree Centre is part of STFC, one of Europe’s largest multidisciplinary scientific research organisations, within UK Research and Innovation, building on a wealth of established scientific heritage and a network of international expertise.
Its primary base is located at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory on the Sci-Tech Daresbury campus in the Liverpool City Region.
About Coventry University
Coventry University is a global, modern university with a mission of creating better futures. We were founded by entrepreneurs and industrialists in 1843 as the Coventry School of Design. We continue to work with businesses to ensure we provide job-ready graduates with the skills and creative thinking to improve their communities.
With a proud tradition of innovative teaching and learning, Coventry University is now one of the largest in the UK and has world-class campus facilities, the UK’s first standalone 5G network and a digital community of learning.
Our students are part of a global network that has 50,000 learners studying Coventry University degrees in more than 40 different countries and partnerships with 150 higher education providers worldwide.
Over two centuries, we have flourished in our home city and Coventry University Group now also delivers access to our range of high-quality services. In addition to our campuses in Coventry, Scarborough and London, we also have a campus in Wroclaw in Poland, a branch campus in Egypt and a joint institute in China.
We have also established a network of global hubs in China, Africa, Dubai, Singapore and Brussels and India.
We have greatly increased our research capacity and capability with a focus on impactful research, delivered for and with partners to address real-world challenges and support the sustainable growth of business and communities.
The depth and breadth of our rapidly growing research portfolio was validated by the latest UK research assessment, which saw us jump 22 places in the research power rankings.
We were awarded a gold rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework, proving we deliver excellence in what students care most about, teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies.
In 2022, we were honoured with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of International Trade, the UK’s most prestigious business award.
In recent years, we have won many awards and vastly improved our rankings in the league tables that matter to students. But what matters to us is delivering transformational change for our students, partners and communities around the world as we continue to evolve into a global education group.
Top image: Hartree Centre Director Kate Royse signs the collaboration agreement with Coventry University for the Digital and AI Skills Network. Credit: STFC