26 November 2009: The National Skills Academy for IT has passed the business planning stage to become the 14th active Skills Academy in the network.
Skills Minister Kevin Brennan said:
“High level IT skills are essential to the future of Digital Britain and will help us boost our global competitiveness and productivity.
“This Academy will play a vital role in helping people gain those technical and professional IT skills necessary for a better future, both for themselves and the country.”
National Skills Academies allow skilled workers to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy by giving them the opportunity to maximise their earnings and improve their prosperity and that of the country as a whole. Led by employers, they deliver the learning in different ways, through networks of selected colleges and training providers.
The Skills Academy is supported by leading employers, including: Accenture, British Airways, BT, Cabinet Office, Cable & Wireless, Carphone Warehouse, EDS, IBM, Logica, Microsoft, Oracle, Qedis, Sainsbury’s, SFW, Vodafone and Whitbread. In welcoming the business plan approval, Peter Butler, Director of Learning at BT Group Plc, said:
“The approval of the Business Plan for the National Skills Academy for IT is a significant step in achieving a highly skilled, mobile and confident body of talent which will help the UK win the global battle for competitiveness and productivity.
“As the UK’s largest employer in the IT and Telecoms industry, with a diverse workforce of more than 100,000 employees, we are pleased to be supporting the National Skills Academy for IT.
“It will bring value to companies of all sizes by making more widely available the type of high quality learning and industry-valued qualifications that are needed to maintain the vitality of the UK’s technology workforce.”