Wednesday 10 February 2016

Digital Skills for the Northern Powerhouse - Code is key to the future of IT business in the North

Tomorrow the Code Academy is launching at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. This is a very encouraging step by industry, helping to fill the digital skills gap, and complements the work being done by Local Enterprise Partnerships, and the Government.

These are the skills we need in the North East for the future. Already a leading technology centre, the North East is well placed to push on to become a real centre of excellence, as part of the wider Northern Powerhouse. Only last month, GP Bullhound, one of Europe’s largest technology investment banks, came out in emphatic support of the technology industry in the North East, publishing a list of nine companies with the potential to become $1 billion businesses. The region already has a turnover of £1.7 billion, across 199 different technology firms. 

Moving forward, it is vital that we maintain and build on this success, and it is with schemes, like the Code Academy, that we can ensure that the skills of the future stay in the North East.