Nominet Trust has announced that it will invest a sum of GBP 600,000 across several initiatives that focus on helping disadvantaged young people acquire modern digital skills in The UK.
During the initial 9 month rollout period, not-for-profit organizations such as Action for Children, Home-Start, Careers Trust, The Children’s Society, City & Guilds Group, UK Youth, YMCA Swansea, Wales Co-Operative Center, Llamau and GISDA will participate in a series of pilots organized by Nominet Trust that are designed to coach as many young people as possible.
The pilots will be unique to each organization. For example, the finances allocated to Careers Trust will see them collaborate with the Good Things Foundation to develop an e-learning platform for budding professionals. At the same time, Action for Children plans to utilize incoming funds to digitize its content about employment counselling programmes , while Home-Start will work with the techmums foundation to educate around 500 single young mothers about digital awareness.
CEO of Nominet, Russell Haworth, feels that the scheme is one of paramount importance, saying:
Working closely with expert organisations that have existing relationships with the young people we need to reach to support their broader confidence is a positive move, not only for those young people, but for the future of the digital economy.
Engaging those who risk being left behind economically and digitally is vital if we are to take seriously the development of our future hiring pool and strengthen our digital skills in the UK.
Research conducted by Nominet Trust last year indicated that those between the age group of 15 to 25 are most likely to face multiple forms of digital disadvantages, with industries across the UK suffering from large technological skill gaps.