Borders College Shortlisted for leading the way in Data Science learning

An innovative partnership programme funded through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal is benefitting students across the region, by allowing not only full-time students to learn about Data Driven Innovation (DDI) but also those who are unemployed or facing redundancy. 

The programme at Borders College has been shortlisted for a national award at the annual CDN (College Development Network) Awards – one of the most prestigious awards in the sector. Core Skills staff at Borders College developed a project-based approach to their course delivery and assessment. This approach has enabled the lecturers to develop the digital, data and meta-skills of the learners that relate more specifically to the needs of the employers. The shortlisting recognises a college that has anticipated the importance of wider skills development and reflected this across the curriculum. The winners will be announced at a virtual celebration on Thursday 3 December 2020.  

Borders College Principal Angela Cox said: 

“I am delighted that the creativity and hard work of the staff is being recognised in this way. Borders College prides itself on providing our community with the skills they need now and in the future. Accessing and interpreting data is an essential skill irrespective of the sector you want to work in and we are delighted to be working with University of Edinburgh on developing these skills, alongside other City Region Deal partners.”  

Alison Muckersie from University of Edinburgh, the Data-Driven Innovation Skills Gateway lead, commented: 

“The team at the Borders College has embraced the opportunity provided by the significant City Region Deal investment to prepare their students for the fast-changing world of work. Data skills are becoming increasingly important across all jobs and sectors, and are key to ensuring ongoing competitiveness for businesses. By embedding data literacy in their core skills programme the College is recognising this trend and is helping their students to be better equipped for the world of work, regardless of the roles they move into.” 

The programme consists of a pilot group of unemployed individuals that are developing data literacy skills online and meet up with their tutor on a weekly basis for support and advice. This pilot group is learning about Data Citizenship, Data Science, Information Technology Skills and Communication. The group will complete their course in December, with the hope that they will have the skills to gain employment in an increasingly competitive and changing jobs market.  

The digital technology and data revolution has put data at the core of many things, from personal privacy to public health, wealth creation to environmental protection. This is particularly important for employers, whether large or small businesses, public sector organisations or charities, because using data to create or improve products and services is key to unlocking economic growth and job creation. 

By moving to more digital solutions and using data to update business models, organisations can develop and take advantage of new and innovative ways of operating. To do this successfully, businesses need to have a workforce that is fit for purpose. 

Rapidly evolving technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics are increasing the demand for highly-skilled workers, but every type of work is affected. It is estimated that 90% of jobs already require digital skills. And while some jobs will disappear altogether as automation spreads, new jobs and whole new areas of work will emerge. 

The college has recognised the importance of developing these skills and has embedded the programme into their core curriculum. It is currently being taught online to over 170 full time students across a range of subjects (Construction, Business, Hospitality, Hairdressing, Beauty Therapy, Sport and Horse care). 

DataLoch heralds new data-driven era in healthcare innovation

A new data repository has been created to bring together health and social care data for the first time, driving forward data-driven approaches to improving care.

DataLoch will enable researchers to engage with private, public and third sector health and social care organisations, using data from across the Edinburgh & South East Scotland region to power research and innovation.

The project takes its name from the industry standard ‘data-lake’, a system or repository of data stored in its natural form.

DataLoch has been funded as part of the University of Edinburgh’s Data-Driven Innovation initiative – part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

The UK is facing an increasing number of health and social care challenges, experts say, including an aging population and increasing numbers of people living with long term conditions.DataLoch aims to create an efficient and safe approach to storing, linking and accessing health and social care data to help researchers tackle these challenges.

The Edinburgh International Data Facility at the University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre (EPCC) will provide a secure and robustly managed facility for the information.

DataLoch has been created jointly by NHS Lothian, Borders and Fife and the University of Edinburgh.

The project was in the first phase of development when the Covid-19 pandemic began. Researchers have since diverted their efforts to focus on Covid-19 data and supporting NHS service managers and clinicians with immediate hospital-based improvements.

Tracey Gillies, Medical Director, NHS Lothian said: “DataLoch has already shown its value with the Covid-19 specific data set which has enabled us to explore and address new challenges facing the NHS as a result of the pandemic. We are a learning organisation focused on quality of care and we believe DataLoch will help drive data-enabled innovation within NHS Lothian to continue to improve the efficiency and quality of care we deliver.”

Professor Nick Mills, Chair of Cardiology, University of Edinburgh said: “DataLoch is a unique platform that aligns with the needs of our research community and our health and social care providers. It will promote a data-driven approach to healthcare improvements and enable us to develop a world-leading learning health system in our region.”

City Region Deal passes £100m milestone

Press release issued on behalf of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal

More than £100m of the £1.3b Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal has already been delivered, a new report shows. 

Housing, transport, skills programs and five new data innovation hubs are among the projects that have already benefited from the deal funding. 

The UK and Scottish Governments are each investing £300m into deal projects that are expected to create thousands of highly-skilled jobs and opportunities.  Regional partners are investing a further £730m in the projects for a total £1.3bn boost for the area. 

The annual report, which was approved by the Deal’s Joint Committee last week, showed that £103m has been spent since the deal was signed in 2018. 

Projects worth more than half (£736m) of the funding have now been approved, demonstrating the strength and pace of delivery on the 15 year deal.  In the past year this included the £85m business case for the Usher Institute, which will create a world-leading innovation hub to improve the delivery of health and social care services. 

The report also highlighted how the deal has responded and adapted to the coronavirus pandemic.  Just 11 days after the country was locked down the deal launched a COVID-19 Jobs Support portal,  it has allocated £200,000 worth of grants to create data-driven solutions to assist the region’s communities, services and businesses with the recovery, and it has worked with transport operators on a package of emergency measures to support the main routes into and out of Edinburgh.     

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Connectivity and Infrastructure, Michael Matheson, said:

City Region and Growth Deals will be a crucial part of our economic recovery from coronavirus (COVID-19) as we work towards a fairer, greener and more inclusive Scotland.

The region has instinctively worked together to respond to these testing times, and this determination will ensure that we can maximise the benefits of our investment in the years to come, creating jobs and significant growth.

UK Government Minister for Scotland, Iain Stewart, said:

It’s great to see the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal progressing quickly and delivering for businesses and communities.

Deal partners have responded positively to challenges posed by the pandemic, and as our economy recovers these projects will be even more vital to securing jobs and investment for the area.   

The UK Government has committed £300 million to the deal with £290 million of that investment focused on Scotland’s tech sector. This is a hugely important area, with a recent survey showing 23% of the Edinburgh’s workforce employed in digital tech jobs.    

Across Scotland, the UK Government is investing more than £1.5 billion in regional growth deals to secure the future of our economy.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, Convener of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal Joint Committee, said:

The Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal continued to make great progress in its second year. On top of delivering projects across the innovation, skills, transport, culture and housing themes and bolstering regional infrastructure, a further major benefit has been the strategic coordination we are seeing across these areas.

Claire Pattullo, Vice-Chair of Regional Enterprise Council, said:

I’m greatly encouraged with the momentum that is building in Year 2 of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal.

The Regional Enterprise Council represents business, social enterprise and the third sectors with the ambition of achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth throughout the city region.

In the coming year we will be helping to shape the Regional Growth Framework to support the City Region Deal’s goals.

Contact Information

Sara McGuire

sara.mcguire@edinburgh.gov.uk

Publication of the Annual Report and the Benefits Realisation Plan

On Friday 4 September, the City Region Deal’s Joint Committee approved an important plan for reviewing and evaluating the effectiveness of the Deal’s activities and deliverables, and signed off our second Annual Report.

Annual Report

This year’s Report details the strong progress we’ve made in finalising business cases across the different themes of Innovation, Housing, Transport, Skills and Culture, gaining approval for 55% of the £1.3bn investment committed in the Deal Document. But – critically – the Report also explains how, in early Spring, the Deal partners quickly responded to the rapidly emerging Covid-19 pandemic across a number of fronts:

• The launch of a COVID-19 Jobs Support portal on 3 April, just 11 days after the country was locked down.

• Regional councils, SEStran and Transport Scotland formed a Transport Transition Group, and worked with operators to prepare measures for the main transport corridor routes into and out of Edinburgh.

• The Data-Driven Innovation Programme allocated up to £200,000 in small grants to enable university staff and students to apply data-driven-innovation ideas in support of communities, services and businesses in the city region.

• Construction commencing at the Borders Innovation Park and at the Queensway Industrial Estate in Glenrothes as part of the Fife Industrial Innovation Investment.

To read the full Report, follow this link

Benefits Realisation Plan

Our Benefits Realisation Plan (BRP) is a major step forward in evidencing outcomes and impacts from the Deal. It will demonstrate to both the UK and Scottish Governments the benefits of their support and ensure continued focus on inclusive growth to reduce inequality and increase wellbeing.

The BRP was developed over many months in consultation with both governments, as well as other key stakeholders. Not only does it address how the Deal is performing against objectives and delivery plans, but it also measures wider economic, social and other impacts that may be generated within the Region, Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.

In January 2020, Audit Scotland highlighted its keen interest in Scotland’s City and Growth Deals implementing monitoring and evaluation processes, so we are proud to have achieved this important milestone for our deal.

To read the Benefits Realisation Plan, follow this link

Covid-19 Jobs Support Portal is a Success

The sudden onset of Covid-19 in March this year caused an immediate major economic disruption across the region, with the sudden closure of businesses and uncertainty for many citizens.

Employers and employees were navigating a quickly changing landscape to prevent job disruption. Many of those affected are not known to local employability systems, including those working in low skilled jobs and the gig economy, and employers unprepared for cutting contracts and hours. While the Job Retention Scheme was introduced it became apparent it would not necessarily prevent on-going job losses and the need for further economic security for many.

Regional partners noticed a surge in job opportunities with sudden growth sectors, including take-away food and beverages, logistics, supermarkets and the NHS / care sector, agriculture, among others and saw a gap for a job promotion service to meet the needs of both employers and at-risk employees as well as jobseekers with an opportunity to match skills to opening opportunities.

The Covid-19 Jobs Support portal was quickly developed by Hanlon Software Solutions as a regional offer for employers still recruiting and Covid-19 impacted employees facing job losses, and launched on 3 April.   

The portal gives support that is specific and clearly visible and captures the scale of the challenge as we also collect data through registration details of those affected. It offers additional links to local services across the region and manage the considerable information flow currently being generated, including welfare rights support and links to PACE activity and Business Development support for employers.

The portal was promoted via a maximum impact marketing campaign through the region. The site has now welcomed its 14,500 unique visitor with over 70,000 page views. With 305 employers promoting over 796 vacancies.

In the site’s infancy the majority of roles were within customer service in the retail and logistics sectors, but as time has progressed these vacancies have reduced and a steady increase in health and social care roles are becoming available daily. A total of 476 health and social care vacancies have been advertised which amounts to 60% of all advertised roles, confirming the need for ongoing support for this ever-growing sector.

HMRC who are relocating their service offices from multiple locations within the city region to their new purpose-reconfigured facilities welcomed the introduction of the Covid-19 Jobs Support site to support their mass recruitment drive. They have since received 900 job applications from across the travel to work area.

A local care employer said:

 “Following advertising on wwwc19jobs.org, we were overwhelmed by applications received in March and April and had to place a hold on recruitment for all of May. It was not a position I ever expected to find us in I can tell you!”

Manager, Odeon Cinema said when approached by the employer engagement team:

“During such unprecedented times, reaching out to others has never been more crucial, as an employer but also in society. Although we do have an employee assistance programme within our company, to know that there are options for my team is beneficial to their wellbeing. I feel much better knowing there is support there for them through this portal, whatever happens during these uncertain times”

The site has also been well received by jobseekers across the regions, one job seeker from the Scottish Borders who registered with Covid-19 Jobs Support has secured a contract with NHS Borders. Another jobseeker in Fife has secured a role with Amazon.

Following the launch of Covid-19 Jobs Support, the Integrated Employer Engagement team has actively engaged with a number of other Scottish local authorities through the Scottish Local Authorities Economic Development Group (SLAED) to promote the software and functionality of the site and to date three other local authorities are rolling out this product within their areas, with a further eight in discussions with the developer Hanlon.

For more information please contact c19jobs@capitalcitypartnership.org