Calls made for national IT academy

Wed 23 Jul 2008 at 3:57 PM

BT and e-skills UK have expressed interest in creating a national academy of IT skills.

Its aims would be to provide the industry with better-trained workers, training courses and enable IT workers to get recognised for their skills.

Karen Price, chief executive of e-skills UK, says it will offer "a unique opportunity for employers to take collective responsibility for the skills and accreditation of the IT workforce".

It would join others established by the National Skills Academy network, which include the recently announced academies of Sport and Active Leisure, Creative and Cultural, and Hospitality.

The government hopes its network of employer-led centres will integrate innovation and creativity, and workplace demands to help prepare students for employment.

Skills minister David Lammy said: "The network will be key to supporting progression, creating jobs, tackling strategic skills shortages and driving up productivity."

The need for IT skills varies from job to job - Randstad's workers in receptionist jobs in Manchester are likely to engage more with computers than manual labourers, for example.