Solent partnership set to supercharge technology and digital skills in the region

A new partnership between two Solent organisations is aiming to support businesses in the region by promoting technology and digital skills.

The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has joined forces with TechSolent in a move to enhance engagement with the region’s tech community and aid businesses in embedding digital and technical skills.

The Chair of the Solent LEP Board, Rachael Randall said: “This partnership is a proactive and exciting move which will enable the Solent region’s technology sector to flourish in the future, as well as helping all businesses make the most of technology in order to thrive.

“We aim to increase capability and widen inclusion for our tech businesses to allow them to grow. We plan to tackle the digital skills gap to boost pay, offer more opportunities, and help small businesses to digitise and thrive in this fast-developing sector.

“This announcement aligns with the LEP’s plans to establish Solent Partners, working with local industry, academic and civic leaders to promote the collective prosperity and sustainability of the Solent economy.”

The initiative is aiming to embed technical competencies in business and to make it easier for businesses to find the support that they need to develop their technological capability.

Together, TechSolent and the LEP’s Growth Hub services will work to encourage and develop an entrepreneurship and innovation among the Solent’s business community.

Emma Stevens from TechSolent said: “We are thrilled to partner with the Solent LEP to work collaboratively to promote and foster greater tech entrepreneurship, innovation, skills, business growth, and to provide support in the development of a vibrant tech eco-system for the Solent region.

“TechSolent connects, develops, and promotes tech communities in the region by building a network to address challenges, educate the community about tech initiatives and contribute towards the economic development of the Solent.

“We run networking and education events for tech businesses, academic institutions and local government to support skills development. Our partnership with the Solent LEP will allow us to work with them on events such as Immersive Days, Hackathons, the Digital Skills Partnership and Skills Bootcamps.”

The partnership extends the LEP’s programme of initiatives, which see it working with a range of different partners across education and business to promote the economic success of the region.

Among these is the Immersive Days, coordinated by the LEP which has seen employers such as BAE, Balfour Beatty and Teemill opening their doors to secondary school students to showcase the various ways digital technologies are used across their industry.

These immersive days TeenTech Hackathon taking place at Fareham College, with all students who attended Immersive Days engaging again with employers, who showcased learning and career opportunities.

Other major programmes include:

• Business Mentoring Programme, where small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and businesses from certain sectors, including tech industries, receive free support to develop their skills,
• Digital Skills Partnership, in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation & Tech, aims to improve digital skills for people and organisations and is designed to be inclusive and accessible to all, regardless of age, background, or experience level.
• Skills Bootcamps, fully funded by the Department for Education (DfE) to support adults to retrain and upskill in local priority sectors, to respond to skills shortages and ultimately, support economic growth in the Solent.

The Solent LEP also leads the Tech Talent Taskforce, a collaboration of academia, local authorities, and businesses, looking at driving initiatives to tackle digital skills gaps and addressing the issue of technical skills availability as a strategic priority.