During the next few weeks I will be running through the five key themes of our 2024 Staffordshire Chambers Business Manifesto.
This week, I’m focusing on Digital Staffordshire.
Whilst the evolving landscape of digital technology continues to influence the way businesses operate, a sizeable number of residents are still grappling with digital poverty.
They are effectively excluded from a digital world, where so many tasks are completed online.
The threat of cyber-crime is the stuff of nightmares, given the huge damage which can be caused by online attacks by fraudsters.
Artificial intelligence or (AI) is a growing topic for discussion. How can we embrace the technologies which allow computers to perform a variety of advanced functions, including the ability to understand and translate spoken and written language and review data?
Our Manifesto pledges to promote innovative infrastructure/communication technologies to exploit commercial opportunities in the digital ecosystem, sharing best practise case studies of digital innovations, technologies and processes.
Too many of our local residents are excluded from living in a digital space, due to digital poverty. Poor digital connectivity means that rural businesses can often find themselves at a disadvantage to their urban peers. We lend our support for a joined-up strategy to tackle digital poverty, as well as greater investment in rolling out digital connectivity to all areas of our county. This would include faster, cutting-edge high speed connectivity infrastructure, with 5G and future technology advancements.
As the designated employer representative body for the Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), we will continue to push for the upskilling of a current and future workforce, covering both basic digital skills and emerging technologies. We need to effectively “future proof” the training being rolled out in the area of digital skills.
We will continue to press for more cross sector collaboration with key partners such as universities, training providers and business leaders to identify and exploit wider digital collaboration in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), with take up of applications by the business community.
We will help to raise awareness of the implications of cyber-attacks, offering support and guidance to implement actions to prevent cyber-attacks and grow the number of businesses with Cyber Champions.
You can read our Manifesto in full by clicking on the link:
Business Manifesto 2024 – Flipbook – Page 1 (paperturn-view.com)
If you have any suggestions or feedback regarding our Manifesto, please send an e-mail to:
declan.riddell@staffordshirechambers.co.uk
If you have an interest in the area of digital, we would love to get more businesses engaged with the work being done by our Digital forum in the area of digital skills. Our Digital Skills Working Group (DSWG) has the aim of creating a localised digital skills pathway for learners to understand what is available on our patch to grow their career within the digital sector. Again, feel free to get in touch if this may be of interest:
