The South Coast IoT is central to ensuring a sufficient home-grown workforce with the right skills to meet industry needs. It is working with key employers including, the Royal Navy and Portsmouth International Port, and has support from key local employers such as IBM, QinetiQ, Leonardo, Maritime UK Solent, GKN, DDC, and Teemill.
It aims to increase education and employment opportunities across maritime, engineering and digital industries. A key priority of the initiative is to support individuals from under-represented groups to foster valuable connections and access sustainable, well-paid careers.
Matt Johnson, Director of the South Coast Institute of Technology says, “This is a fantastic opportunity for our education partners to work collaboratively with employers to provide clear career pathways into the industries where we know there are gaps.
“The maritime, engineering and digital industries are some of the most diverse and rapidly expanding sectors in our region, with tens of thousands of job vacancies for talented people. Our high-quality training, industry-expert educators, real-world curriculum and state-of-the-art equipment and facilities will help local people to live, study and work locally and realise their potential.”