A shortage of digital, data and technology (DDaT) skills has been a long running problem for the public sector.
There is always talk of the great potential of new technologies for the transformation of services, but efforts to deliver the ambition are often frustrated by a lack of relevant expertise. Similarly, there is a wide recognition in the sector of the value of data, but it is a continual struggle to recruit and retain the people to use that data to its full potential.
The most common challenge is that the public sector can rarely match the private sector in terms of salaries, and that many of those who go to work for public authorities see it as a stepping stone to more lucrative positions elsewhere.
The traditional solutions have been in looking for graduates to step into new roles and the expensive approach of consultancy support. But this places pressure on budgets, often fills gaps only for the short term and leaves the problem of retaining talent in a highly competitive market.
UKAuthority and NetBuilder have collaborated on a research project assessing the scale of the public sector’s digital skills gap, to help organisations explore a variety of approaches to fill their own skills requirements. It has involved a survey of UKAuthority readers on some of the key issues, UKA Live discussions and two roundtables of senior public sector officials (talking on a non-attributable basis) who have significant experience of dealing with the relevant issues.
The report casts light on several significant issues and indicates that there is scope for organisations to considerably strengthen their in-house DDaT capabilities through the recruitment and targeted training of local people with the right capabilities and potential – regardless of their formal training.
DOWNLOAD BRIEFING PAPER
