Inishowen Businesses invited to turn digital skills gaps into opportunities
Digital Skills Opportunities in Inishowen – From Survey to Solutions to explore the range of digital and IT skills development opportunities available locally.
Inishowen businesses will have the chance to turn identified digital skills gaps into practical opportunities at a free breakfast event in Buncrana this Friday, 18 September.
Digital Skills Opportunities in Inishowen – From Survey to Solutions will bring local businesses, employees, self-employed people and entrepreneurs together with training providers from across the North West to explore the range of digital and IT skills development opportunities available locally.
The event has been organised by ii (Inishowen Innovation) in collaboration with Inishowen Development Partnership and the NW DEPTH project, following the findings of the recent Inishowen Digital Adoption Survey.
The survey highlighted a clear appetite among local businesses to make greater use of digital technology, while also identifying significant barriers to progress. Cost, lack of time and uncertainty about what training and support is available were among the biggest challenges reported.
Almost half of responding businesses described themselves as moderately digital, while only a small minority said they had a formal digital roadmap in place. Businesses also identified skills gaps across both business/office and production systems.
At the same time, more than seven in ten respondents expressed an interest in further digital training, with particularly strong demand for areas including artificial intelligence and automation, digital productivity tools, customer relationship management (CRM), digital marketing and basic digital skills.
The September event aims to turn those findings into action by bringing a range of training providers together under one roof.
Partners involved include ATU Donegal, Ulster University, North West Regional College (NWRC) and Donegal ETB/Donegal College, who will showcase training opportunities ranging from practical short courses and workshops to accredited education.
Participants will be able to speak directly with training providers and find out how available programmes could benefit their businesses, employees or careers. Topics will include Microsoft 365 and everyday digital productivity, CRM, digital marketing, AI and automation, data skills and more advanced IT training.
Anne Marie McLaughlin, Manager of ii (Inishowen Innovation), said the event was a direct response to what local businesses had told the organisation through the survey.
“The survey asked what Inishowen businesses need to compete, innovate and grow – and one answer was clear: practical digital skills training, available locally.
“We took those findings to the training providers, and now they're coming to Inishowen with free training opportunities. We encourage businesses across Inishowen to come along and see what's available to them.”
The event is aimed at Inishowen employers, SMEs, self-employed people, start-ups and entrepreneurs, but is open to anyone looking to improve their digital or IT skills. Employees and individuals considering upskilling or further training are also encouraged to attend, with no particular level of digital expertise required.
The free morning event begins at 8am, with tea, coffee and breakfast refreshments available before presentations get underway at 8.30am.
Digital Skills Opportunities in Inishowen – From Survey to Solutions takes place this Friday at ii, St. Oran’s Road, Buncrana. Places are limited, and businesses are encouraged to register in advance at theii.com/events to attend the breakfast event, meet the training providers and explore digital skills opportunities that could benefit themselves or their staff.