Sustainability is now seen as an essential pillar of any successful business. As it can encompass many different topics, it is important to ensure that the definition of sustainability includes carbon reduction and net zero transition, circular economy goals and broader social value goals that are defined company by company.
As the meaning of sustainability expands, the pursuit of sustainability requires a surplus of skilled people who can implement these initiatives – and yet such sustainability professionals are currently in short supply.
We know technology can be the solution to many of the challenges our planet is currently facing, but the sector itself is also facing a digital skills gap. It is worth mentioning that the technology sector has shown leadership in sustainability through its commitments to scientific objectives (such as the RaceToZero campaign), its capacity for digital activation, its support for sustainable transitions in other sectors and its business outreach.
However, if we don’t cultivate the green digital skills of the future now, the UK is set to face a significant challenge in the future.
Take the example of cloud services. Service performance and availability has always been a key pillar of any cloud platform. Historically, training programs and career paths have valued and promoted people who can meet these parameters.
With the cloud now widely adopted in a sustainability-conscious economy, a new pressure becomes the energy efficiency and carbon footprint of cloud services. It requires new ways of thinking about cloud architecture, data center management and cloud software design, down to the coding language.
Failure to adapt the student-professional pipeline to account for shifts in client culture around sustainability will contribute to widening the existing and already difficult skills gap. This would intensify the competition for qualified personnel, increase costs and reduce the competitiveness of companies without personnel capable of designing and operating environmentally friendly cloud services.
This is just one example, and sustainability professionals can take many different forms depending on the company that needs their expertise.
With climate, circular economy, and social value laws and regulations now inescapable, the tech industry must take seriously the looming challenge of educating tomorrow’s sustainability professionals.
Lessons can be learned from successful initiatives in other digital skills, such as UTC Heathrow Digital Future Program, promoted by leaders in the colocation and cloud hosting market, helping to train teenagers and young adults in very valuable digital skills.
THE ADA National College of Digital Skills also aims to bridge the gap between education and industry, partnering with top-notch companies to facilitate apprenticeships or job placement opportunities for its students.
Finally, backed by the biggest companies in the technology and business services sectors, techUK’s sister organization Technical skills partners with top universities to provide job-ready digital professionals with its Technology industry gold accreditation, recognizing high quality education and training in the technology sector.
