The far-reaching opportunities created by digital technologies cross link intellectual, cultural, social, scientific and technological dimensions Dialogic’s Michael Bowkis presents research and analysis on the UK Software Economy: skills, challenges and opportunities “Building ICT Skills and Digital Inclusion for a More Competitive and Inclusive Workforce”.

On Thursday 6th and Friday 7th of September The Institution of Engineering and Technology hosted Equalitec's Knowledge and Skills for a Digital Future conference. The major conference brought together key player organisations working towards the greater participation of women in ITEC and ITEC related areas.The complete conference proceedings and media coverage as well as in depth discussion and reports can also be obtained from Equalitec.

The issues and opportunities that face the UK ITEC sectors requires careful analysis with Software & Computing Services being the largest single contributor to our National Accounts within the Creative Economy (CE) at 2.7% GVA. As a whole the CE is responsible for 7.3% UK GVA and forecasts are predicting the CE to rise to 10% over next 3 years.

The CE is part of the Knowledge Economy - the fastest growing component of the UK economy and is predicted to have a 40% all graduate workforce by 2020. Therefore the software development/technology sector underpins UK economic growth and prosperity both in terms of software and services in their own right but also because software and computing technology underpins or enables many other industry sectors (e.g. new media, film, music etc.)

The software development/technology sector in the UK is vital to the growth and prosperity of the UK as a whole because of its prominent role within the developing UK knowledge economy which is so important to our future prosperity. This sector underpins our future economic competitiveness and will have a significant impact on our ability to compete in the global economy.

However, there are significant challenges that need creative and inclusive solutions. The ITEC sectors are arguably the least gender inclusive within the UK with less than 20% of women employed. In this presentation Michael Bowkis examines the issues, and summarises Dialogic’s key research findings on the challenges and opportunities for developing vibrant UK ITEC sectors.