• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

Daily Business Magazine

A magazine complement to the Daily Business website

  • Life, Arts & Leisure
    • Creative
    • Festival
      • Festival Reviews
    • Film
    • Food & Drink
    • Stage Shows
    • Life
    • Leisure
      • Rio Recommends – dog walks and cafes
    • Homes
    • Style
    • Travel
  • Opinion
    • Bill Magee
    • Craig Alexander Rattray
    • Karen Harvie
    • Keith Anderson
    • Russell Dalgleish
    • Terry Murden
  • Interviews
  • Notebook
  • Working Life
    • Careers & Management
    • Finance and legal
    • Technology
      • Tech Talk
    • Well Being
  • Daily Business News
    • All Content

Let’s go digital, but avoid false promises

June 13, 2021 by Bill Magee Leave a Comment

Bill Magee

TECH TALK: A largely unnoticed plan to send Universal Credit claimants on digital training courses has its drawbacks, writes BILL MAGEE


News of a UK Government link-up with Google was easy to miss. A low-key announcement made without fanfare, that Universal Credit claimants are to be sent on a digital training course. Attracting hardly any media coverage or comment, on paper it looks like a sound proposal.

Under the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) scheme, 9,000 potential job seekers will learn tech skills that, in theory, will make them more attractive to employers.

The claimant is referred to a designated work coach for a six-month scholarship and subsequently awarded their own “Google Career Certificate”. The job seeker signs up to train up, apparently, as a data analyst, project manager, or user experience (UX) designer. These are highly experienced specialist IT roles and therein lies a sticking point.

Of course, a fully-fledged ‘Digital Society’ should be the aim of any ambitious country to improve its global standing. Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Economy Kate Forbes addressed the EIE21 investor showcase in Edinburgh on Thursday, when she outlined the latest progress of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Strategy, under the Logan Review.

A key driver is “Connecting Scotland”. A £26 million programme equipping more than 23,000 people with iPads and Chrome books is aimed specifically at improving digital literacy and accessibility among individuals of lower incomes or socially isolated groups, such as the elderly.

It is backed up by numerous further education options, like Glasgow Caledonian University. Its software development degree apprenticeships, 100% funded through Skills Development Scotland, come with the benefits of a job.

The contrast between Scotland’s digital efforts at ground level and the DWP scheme is stark. I sent details of the latter to one senior tech executive who hadn’t spotted the announcement. While welcoming an initiative that launches a person on their digital journey, he queried this particular plan’s practical relevance.

One just doesn’t become a data analyst/scientist overnight. “Also, they’re like hen’s teeth out there”, he said. Crucially, one would have to already possess a significant grasp of tech to complete such a course. “It smacks of something of a false promise”.

We’ve been here before. I recall in the 1980s thousands of redundant pitmen encouraged, through a Thatcher Government-led industry offshoot British Coal Enterprise, to use pay-off money to start up their own business.

Then, a BCE executive spilled the beans to the Financial Times: “Miners don’t make good entrepreneurs”. The scheme hung around for a while, finally hitting pit bottom.

A question keeps nagging away. What happens if a person really doesn’t think the Google initiative is for them, or they try but fail – will they lose the precious universal credit cash desperately needed to make ends meet?

Most aspects of social security policy are reserved matters so expect the DWP scheme to be awkwardly shoehorned into Scotland’s digital efforts. It smacks of political jiggery-pokery, even massaging the unemployment figures – with 9,000 claimants “off the books” – to make it appear more people are “working” than is actually the case? The cyber jury is out on this one.


Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Bill Magee, Opinion, Tech Talk, Technology, Working Life Tagged With: digital training, universal credit

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar



Editor’s Pick

Reston Station

Reston back on track after half a century

Julena Drumi

… [More...] about Reston back on track after half a century

Angus Grossart

Obituary: Sir Angus Grossart

Terry Murden

… [More...] about Obituary: Sir Angus Grossart

Terry Murden

Late call to replace Lord Smith | SNIB and the bottle bank

Terry Murden

… [More...] about Late call to replace Lord Smith | SNIB and the bottle bank

Edinburgh-Park-Tapestry-with-Celia-Joicey-Director-Dovecot-Studios

Weaving culture into Edinburgh’s office life

Julena Drumi

… [More...] about Weaving culture into Edinburgh’s office life

Advertising



Footer

  • All Content
  • Site Map
  • Privacy Policy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • WordPress

Copyright © 2022 · Design by jPAD Consulting · Magazine Pro · Genesis Framework

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...