West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin launches Digital Skills Plan

A digital skills plan has been unveiled by the Mayor of West Yorkshire as part of a push to grow the digital sector in the area. 

Tracy Brabin announced the plan, supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to ensure that people across the West Yorkshire region can gain the digital skills needed for the career that they want. 

Mayor Brabin said: ‘Equipping people with the digital skills they need to succeed is a key priority because everybody should have the same chances to get on and live a happy life. 

‘West Yorkshire’s digital sector is already punching above its weight and we will continue to build on this by supporting businesses to grow and to innovate.’

The plan includes a programme to help school-aged children improve their digital literacy as well as launching a campaign to ‘inspire excitement in digital careers.’ Additionally, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) will be offering support to businesses on digital issues. 

Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, Mark Roberts, said: ‘West Yorkshire has the fastest growing digital sector outside of London and is the UK’s number one location for tech scale-ups. 

‘Investment in digital skills will further boost our region’s economy, accelerate business growth and create jobs and opportunities for everyone in our region.’ 

Work on developing the digital skills plan was carried out with the Local Digital Skills Partnership, a network of ‘digital advocates’ from public, private and third sector organisations across West Yorkshire. Further collaboration on the plan was done in consultation with education, charity and business partners in the area. 

WYCA have described the plan as ensuring that provisions are for everyone ‘from those who have never turned on a laptop, to those who want to learn how to use social media, to those who are expert coders.’ 

Local authorities across the UK area are making a push to aid residents with digital skills, as Brent Council recently launched a new Digital Skills Hub to aid in the delivery of their adult-focused courses.

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