TechFuture

Following its search for a new home for the Tech Partnership’s work in schools, the Tech Partnership today announces that a City & Guilds consortium is taking over the TechFuture programme, ensuring a bright future for the portfolio of TechFuture Classroom, TechFuture Girls, TechFuture Badges and TechFuture Ambassadors.

11 June 2018 / Be the first to comment

Tech Partnership schools programmes to be taken forward by City & Guilds 
Following its search for a new home for the Tech Partnership’s work in schools, the Tech Partnership today announces that a City & Guilds consortium is taking over the TechFuture programme, ensuring a bright future for the portfolio of TechFuture Classroom, TechFuture Girls, TechFuture Badges and TechFuture Ambassadors.
Designed to inspire young people about technology-related careers and help them fulfil their potential in a digital world, TechFuture’s industry supported student resources have 10,000 registered users, including 1,300 teachers, and almost 5,000 online badges have been issued. TechFuture will be transferred to City & Guilds over the summer, enabling an orderly transition ready for the start of the next academic year. 
Karen Price OBE, CEO of the Tech Partnership explained: “City & Guilds is uniquely placed to take forward our legacy in schools and continue to grow its reach and impact. Its organisational aims and charitable objectives are aligned to TechFuture’s purpose. It has deep expertise in the areas that TechFuture requires, including production and support of online learning and digital badges, and a commitment to invest in a sustainable future for the TechFuture programme. TechFuture is the result of significant investment by employers and others over many years, and I am delighted young people throughout the UK will continue to benefit for years to come”. 
Patrick Craven, Director of Quality, Policy and Stakeholder Engagement at City & Guilds said: “The tech sector is crying out for new talent with over half of digital businesses struggling to fill roles and there are job opportunities across a range of digital occupations.  We understand the importance of reaching into schools to inspire young people about career opportunities in the tech sector and we are keen to extend our skills development mission to support the careers and industrial strategies. We are delighted to be continuing the great work started by Tech Partnership to ensure that the UK has a strong talent pipeline for our future employment needs. We will be working with partners including BCS / Computing at School and local digital employer-led bodies to strengthen and extend this valuable service into schools. We are particularly keen to help more industry volunteers become TechFuture Ambassadors, including enabling recognition of their contribution and knowledge through their own digital credentials service”.   
Global information technology services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been instrumental in the expansion of TechFuture Ambassadors, under the leadership of Director of Corporate Sustainability Yogesh Chauhan: “TechFuture is a great way for employers to engage with schools and inspire students about the digital world and their future careers” explained Yogesh. “TCS cares about young people and developing the UK’s IT skills talent. It is a pleasure to collaborate with others to make a real difference, especially through the TechFuture Ambassador programme which has grown to a network of over 1,250 people”.
Julia Adamson, Director of Education at BCS, The Chartered Institute of IT said: “We are delighted that City & Guilds is taking forward this important and impactful programme that was started by the Tech Partnership. We will be working with our own members and our corporate partners to encourage more volunteers to become project creators and ambassadors. Through our network, Computing At School, we will be working closely with City & Guilds to increase the number of schools and colleges participating, with particular emphasis on extending the programme’s reach to young women, adult learners, and into Opportunity Areas and other areas which have little access to this type of programme.”