DSO to train, employ thousands in pilot to close digital skills gap

Over 1000 data analysts will be trained as part of the Digital Skills Organisation’s ‘Train 100 Data Analyst’ project. The DSO announced that online learning provider General Assembly, Indigenous ICT training provider Goanna Education and TAFE Queensland will trial and test innovative solutions to train and employ 100 data analysts each, as part of its first pilot project.

Patrick Kidd OBE OAM and CEO at Digital Skills Organisation said the DSO aims to streamline the process of training to ensure the right people with the right skills are in the right jobs, to meet the demand for people in work with digital skills.

“The DSO is focused on ensuring we get Australians into digital jobs with the right knowledge and skills for them to be immediately relevant in the workplace,” Kidd said.

The Train 100 Data Analyst project is the first in a series of projects designed to fund, test and evaluate improved ways of training people in digital skills to get people into digital jobs, to help close Australia’s digital skills gap. Indigenous Australians, mature-aged and young people will be among those to be trained and employed as part of the pilot. Following the successful completion of the pilot, the DSO will look to scale these approaches to train and employ over 1000 data analysists.

“General Assembly is thrilled to announce our partnership with the Digital Skills Organisation of Australia. With their support, we will train up to 100 individuals in Data Analysis through an immersive 9-week program and help them find jobs in the modern economy,” said S Ryan Meyer, Managing Director (Asia Pacific) at General Assembly.

This project will test an ‘employer-led’ approach that allows training providers to develop course content specific to employers’ needs. Incentives are used to help ensure course graduates find employment at the end of training.

“Goanna Education is passionate about driving diversity in the tech sector and we are bringing to the table a vision for better inclusion of First Nations candidates in this style of program,” said Sally Browner, CEO at Goanna Education.

Jackie French, Director at TAFE Queensland, noted that TAFE Queensland has been providing practical and industry-relevant training to students for more than 137 years, equipping them with the skills they need to be job-ready.

“We pride ourselves on working with industry partners to ensure our training meets current and future employment demands and the addition of the Digital Skills Organisation will further enable us to deliver the skilled data analysts that Queensland and Australia need now and into the future,” French said.

Following the pilot, the DSO will take evidence-based insight to inform the government’s agenda and create a VET system that provides an innovative approach to digital skills training in Australia.

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