Agenda item

Joint report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services and Director of Economic Development.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services and the Director of Economic Development, proposing the final version of the City Corporation’s Digital Skills Strategy for 2018-23.

Members heard how the strategy had been developed as part of a cross-departmental collaborative effort.

As part of a wider discussion, the following points were made:

·         Care needed to be taken on delivering the objectives of the strategy until it was unambiguously clear who the lead officer would be. However, there are lead officers for each of the key initiatives set out in the strategy.

·         There are some broader points in the strategy regarding aspirational attainment of learners, which are not restricted to digital skills only.

·         The plan to track outcomes needed to be considered carefully, as well as the funding envelope.

·         Regulatory regime was an important factor to consider, especially with the amount of data transfer with the US. It was reported that the Secretary of State for International Trade had promoted the idea of sharing skills with the US and this would need to be incorporated as part of the strategy.

The Policy Chairman informed the Sub-Committee that she had been asked to join the Financial Services Skills Taskforce operated by TheCityUK. In addition, a report on proposed themes for the next mayoral year would be considered by this Sub-Committee at its next meeting.

RESOLVED, that:

·         The Digital Skills Strategy be noted, as well as the proposed next steps for its delivery.