HRH The Princess Royal launches our new IoT SMART Centre transcript

00:00

So the SMART Centre is a new facility at Solent University, which is part of, and the home of, the South Coast Institute of Technology – a collaboration of colleges, universities and employers working together to build talent pipelines into high-demand careers.

Director of the SMART Centre, Matt Johnson is talking to the camera. Cutaway shots show the engineering facilities being used by students.

00:15

Today we had the Princess Royal come in to the university to open us officially in the new centre, and it's it's been so exciting. She really, genuinely took an interest in everybody she spoke to. She talked today about collaboration, partnerships, skills, the importance of the maritime industry to this region and to the country as a whole ... and I think it's really given staff and students that motivation to push on and make sure that the South Coast Institute of Technology is a success.

The Princess Royal is shown touring the facilities and talking to staff at the SMART Centre. She is also shown unveiling the plaque for the Centre.

00:45

We know that there are key industries within the region which are struggling to grow and evolve because we can't get enough skilled labour into that industry. So what we're doing is we're identifying what those skilled jobs are. We’re then reverse engineering that, so we make sure that the colleges and the universities have the courses in place to train those students into those jobs. We also work with the schools to promote those careers. By working with the youngsters, by working with the parents and the teachers, we're making sure that the people that live in our community know where the opportunities are and what the stepping stones are into a really exciting job at the end of it.

Students are shown using the various facilities in the SMART Centre.

01:25

Video ends with a wave graphic and the Southampton Solent University logo