Search Results for: digital

Design sector contributes £209 billion to the economy but problems remain, claims Design Council

by • News, Workplace design

The Design Council has published a new report which sets out the value of the design industry to the UK and identifies a number of issues that need to be addressed to enhance its value. According to the Designing a Future Economy: Developing design skills for productivity and innovation, the sector contributes £209bn to the UK economy, almost double that of what the creative industries were previously thought to contribute. The report also claims that people working in the sector are significantly more productive than the UK average worker. However it also cautions that a skills gap costs the UK economy nearly £6 billion annually. The report was compiled using UK and US-based data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and O*Net, a US-based research company offering definitions and data on different jobs.

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Smart cities could lead to cost savings of $5 trillion for firms and governments, report claims

by • Cities, News, Technology

Smart city technologies could save businesses, governments and citizens globally over US$5 trillion annually by 2022 according to a new whitepaper from ABI Research (registration required). The new white paper analyses the scope for cost savings and efficiency as a driver for smart city deployments, smart technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT). According to the report, titled ‘Smart Cities and Cost Savings,’ the use and deployment of IoT and smart technologies will be pivotal to the future success of smart cities, but only if players collaborate to embrace a holistic approach. With higher concentrations of people and enterprises in cities as a result of urbanisation, smart city and IoT technology, along with new sharing and service economy paradigms, will be key for cities to optimise the use of existing assets, maximise efficiencies, obtain economies of scale and ultimately create a more sustainable environment. Automation, artificial intelligence, along with sensors, data-sharing and analytics, will all be critical in helping cities save costs.

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Just half of UK businesses have the right skills to combat a cyberattack

Just half of UK businesses have the right skills to combat a cyberattack

by • Legal news, News, Technology, Workplace

Only half (50 percent) of UK companies believe they have the right skills to address a cyberattack, despite some high profile cyberattacks this year against the NHS, Uber and Equifax. A lack of cybersecurity skills may be due to a wider skills gaps facing the UK tech industry, claims new research from IT jobs board, CW Jobs. Nearly a third of tech employees reported feeling they were insufficiently trained in coding, cybersecurity and cloud migration. The gaps in employees’ skills is translating to the businesses they work for with 23 percent saying their business is missing programming and cybersecurity skills. A little over half (51 percent) of IT workers said that cybersecurity was included in their training, and almost one in four (23 percent) say they are not confident in handling a cyber security attack. Despite the growing threat and lack of in-house expertise, only half (50 percent) of employers look for cybersecurity skills when recruiting new IT talent. However, despite awareness around the risk of cybersecurity and the lack of preparedness, only 22 percent of employers are currently training their existing staff in cybersecurity.

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Podcast: From office to imaginariums, with Antony Slumbers

by • Podcasts, Premium Content, Property, Technology

In episode 14 of Workplace Matters, I am joined by Antony Slumbers, history of art graduate-cum-proptech entrepreneur, futurist and digital advocate. In a wide-ranging discussion which includes the inevitable advance of computer processing capability and artificial intelligence, Antony explains why the only option for future business success is to embrace our digital future. Making links to how this will impact upon our workplaces, Antony and I explore many of the points he made in this Work&Place article from earlier this year leading to a bold assertion: the office is dead, so it’s time to think differently.

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Government targets 50 percent cut in greenhouse gases from the built environment

by • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The UK government has set some ambitious targets for construction and the environmental performance of buildings following the announcement of a Sector Deal for the construction sector. The sector deal was an integral part of the Industrial Strategy White Paper published earlier this week. In a statement, Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark revealed more details of the deal supported by £170m of government investment and £250m of match funding from the built environment sector. The announcement sets out ambitious new targets for the built environment and infrastructure including a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gases and a third reduction in the costs of construction and whole life costs of buildings.

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Boosting skills is the key to improving sluggish growth and productivity

by • News, Workplace

The United Kingdom has record-high employment levels and very low jobless rates compared to most OECD countries. However, labour productivity growth remains weak and the job prospects of many adults are hurt by their poor literacy and numeracy skills. To boost growth, productivity and earnings, the UK should encourage lifelong learning among adults and promote better skills utilisation, according to a new OECD report. Getting Skills Right: United Kingdom says that educational attainment has been rising in the UK, with 42 percent of adults having a tertiary degree, compared with 34 percent across the OECD. Sixteen per cent graduate in the field of sciences, more than in any other OECD country, and nearly half of science graduates are women. The share of young adults enrolled in vocational education and training has risen to 43 percent but remains lower than in many other European countries. Apprenticeships are also less popular, pursued by around 24 percent of upper secondary students, compared to 59 percent in Switzerland or 41 percent in Germany.

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Government unveils Industrial Strategy to boost productivity and wealth

by • News, Property, Technology

The UK government has published its ‘ambitious’ Industrial Strategy, which it claims sets out a long-term vision for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address its productivity performance, embrace technological change and boost the earning power of people across the UK. With the aim of making the UK the world’s most innovative nation by 2030, the government has committed to investing a further £725 million over the next 3 years in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to respond to some of the greatest global challenges and the opportunities faced by the UK. This will include £170 million to ‘transform the construction sector and help create affordable places to live and work that are safer, healthier and use less energy’

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Workers would be prepared to take a pay cut for an agile working life

by • Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

A new survey claims that the ability to accommodate agile working into their life is important, with those who prefer to work agile claiming they would sacrifice an average of 16 percent of their annual salary for the opportunity.In addition to this, 86 percent stated they would even change jobs to accommodate their preference. The report into recruiting for an agile workforce suggests that despite being a relatively new concept, over half surveyed were familiar with it and over 22 percent of those had worked in an agile environment for over two years. However, recruiters claim less than half of the roles they’re working on offer agile, finding it’s most prevalent in the IT sector. The study reveals both recruiters and candidates believe the key attributes for success in agile are being flexible, organised and hardworking. Interestingly, the majority of recruiters believe these are required in advance and cannot be developed on the job. Meanwhile, social qualities (like being introverted or outgoing) or being easy going are less important.

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OECD publishes major new work on measuring the quality of the working environment

by • News, Workplace design

The OECD has published a major new report which it claims set out an internationally agreed set of guidelines to measure the quality of the working environment. The document covers a wide range of factors related to working conditions based on existing data and a survey of workers in 20 OECD countries. These characteristics of the working environment include risk factors, work intensity, discretion, autonomy and the opportunity for self-realisation. The guidelines have been produced as part of the OECD Better Life Initiative, which was launched in 2011 with the objective of measuring wellbeing. The report then goes on to set out guidelines for analysis based on sets of questions based on 17 workplace factors.

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The workplace sector responds to the 2017 UK Autumn Budget

by • Architecture, Environment, Features, Property, Technology

Yesterday, the Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the details of the UK government’s latest budget. While Brexit inevitably cast its shadow over the whole thing, there were a number of announcements relevant to the workplace, construction, tech and built environment sectors, many of which have been broadly welcomed by commentators, industry bodies and experts. Among the announcements in the budget were new plans for infrastructure and planning, skills and training, the environment, productivity, AI and regional development.

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Address gender and economic barriers to tech revolution says BT

by • AI, News, Technology, Workplace

Young people from less privileged backgrounds and females face greater barriers to joining the tech revolution, a new report suggests. Tech know-how: The new way to get ahead for the next generation, from BT and Accenture could boost the next generation’s tech skills and help charge social mobility and economic growth. The study found individuals with higher levels of tech know-how earn more as their career progresses, with a ‘tech literacy wage premium’ of £10,000 per year.  The implied salary increase if people develop their skills could add approximately £11 billion to UK GDP by 2022. However, young people whose parents have higher levels of education are 26 percent more likely to see themselves as ‘expert’ or ‘creative’ users of tech in the next five years; and those whose parents fall into the top two education levels expect to earn salaries that are 19 percent higher than the bottom two. The report also highlighted a stark gender divide as young men receive 46 percent more encouragement from parents and teachers to build their tech skills than their female counterparts, and are 17 percent more likely to report having had sufficient training at school.

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The missing LINC between the office and the future of work

by • Features, Flexible working, Technology, Workplace design

There is a theory that if you want to know how the economy is doing, you ask a taxi driver. The basis for this idea is that they are the first to know when money is getting tight, because people make more use of buses and tubes. In a similar way, one of the best ways of gauging workplace trends is to ask an office furniture company. They’ve always functioned in a fiercely competitive market, but are also the first to notice an economic downturn or a shift in the structure of their markets.

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