Stewart Edmondson, CEO of the UK Electronic Skills Foundation, reveals why the future of the UK Electronics industry is critical in 2019.
The UK Electronic Skills Foundation has launched a #TurnOnToElectronics campaign, fronted by Gadget Show presenter (and former UKTN presenter) Georgie Barrat. It aims to attract more young people into careers in electronics.
Explaining its importance, Edmondson said: “If software is the brains inside our tech, Electronics are its vital organs and circulatory system.
“Reflecting on the past year, despite making up 6% of the country’s GDP and attracting considerable investment, the UK’s electronics sector finds itself with a skills crisis. Fewer young people are showing an interest in studying relevant degrees to the sector, resulting in an increasingly rampant skills shortage across electronic engineering.
“This, coupled with a Brexit that will reduce the talent pool, means that this critical industry could be poised for decline. Unless we tackle this shortage, we will increasingly find it challenging to develop the next generation tech needed by our society.
“The crux of the problem is a low level of awareness and understanding about electronics among schoolchildren and those who influence their subject and career choices, especially teachers.
“My hope for 2019 is that Brexit will be a shock to the system, pushing more organisations to invest in young people in universities and schools, helping to rebuild this critical talent pool.
“It won’t happen overnight, but I suspect 2019 will certainly be a year of change for Electronics, and thus all of technology with it.”