50 IN VIEW CYBER AND DIGITAL
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He says the business is eager to help in the work to upskill the local community, providing specific skills and mentoring. CGI is already working with organisations like IN4 on the skills agenda. And he adds: “It is also about inspiring young people.”
Simon Dalley, founder of Bacup-based internet marketing service GrowTraffic is one of the UK’s leading SEO consultants. He says NCF is an opportunity to change the perception of Lancashire.
However, he is also concerned about infrastructure in the county, adding: “Broad- band is a massive issue. For digital businesses upload speed is often one of the most crucial things you need.
“Most residential broadband is still set up for streaming Netflix, so it’s not designed for people working from home. We still need to be
thinking about it, and don’t get me started on rural areas.”
Dr Michele Lawty-Jones, director of the Lancashire Skills Hub, believes NCF is already having a “ripple effect” with other organisations starting to cluster. She says:
“There’s a lot of excitement building around how things are going to evolve.”
She points to the “huge amount of investment” being poured into universities and colleges and the work that has started to inspire young people, starting at an early age.
“It is all those opportunities to draw people in, inspire them and raise awareness. When it comes to jobs it is easy to focus on the cyber and techie roles but there are roles for behaviourists, linguists, all the support functions the headquarters needs.
“There’s all of these opportunities and
collaboration with businesses is absolutely critical.” Michele adds: “I sense that strong collaboration, partners are coming together and recognising this is going to grow the Lancashire economy for everyone.”
Initiatives include a teacher encounter programme which has seen more than 50 teachers from schools across Lancashire visiting GCHQ in Manchester to understand the industry, the job opportunities, the attitudes, the aptitudes, the skills that are re-quired.
Michele says: “That’s the start of that programme to get teachers engaged as well, which is really important.”
Nicola Clayton, director of business development and external engagement at Blackburn College, also points to the wide range of initiatives now underway and welcomes the partnership approach being adopted across Lancashire.
Dave Walker
Nicola Clayton
Jonathan Bond
Jonny Burr
Michele Lawty-Jones
Kam Kothia
Jon Lomas
Simon Dalley
Tim Jacques
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