University secures £315k worth of funding to launch a new Skills Bootcamp

From Monday 18th October 2021 Huddersfield Business School, alongside the School of Computer Engineering, will lead the development and delivery of Skills Bootcamps in Artificial Intelligence that will connect people to employment. Funded by the Institute of Coding this Skills Bootcamp will last up to 16 weeks and give learners the opportunity to build up tech skills and fast-track to an interview with an employer. In partnership with local authorities, employers and providers, the Skills Bootcamps are being developed by the Government as part of the Lifetime skills Guarantee and Plan for Jobs. The initiative aims to help learners develop the skills that are in demand in their local area and ultimately achieve better job prospects. 

 

What is Artificial Intelligence? 

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly underpinning large aspects of the digital economy, increasingly automating how organisations and society function. In terms of this automation, autonomous systems are intelligent systems that can act independently to accomplish goals based on their knowledge and understanding of their environment and the tasks they have to complete.  

 

Dr Abdul Jabbar, Huddersfield Business School’s Director of Learning Development, will be responsible for delivering 4 weeks out of the 16-week Skills Bootcamp course. The delivery content will be developed in partnership with iDEA who will host this delivery content on its web-based learning platform through a series of bite-sized online modules (or “digital badges”). iDEA is the global market leader in digital badging and specialises in designing and delivering content to learners in a way that is fun, approachable, engaging and motivational. iDEA badges can be done independently, in a group, or in a classroom setting, enabling learners to develop a broad range of both technical and soft skills learning on their own or through instruction from academics as part of this Skills Bootcamp. 

The Skills Bootcamp will be delivered online and will address current barriers to digital skills employment such as; gender, BAME and accessibility imbalances. Leaners will cover the background and requirements for intelligent systems autonomy in a wide range of applications, taken from a computer science and software-orientated viewpoint. As well as the technical challenges of system autonomy, leaners will study ethical and legal issues, and hum factors implications. 

Working collaboratively with the Institute of Coding will ensure that the Skills Bootcamp journey is high-quality and tailored to meet the needs of employers and those looking to upskill to boost their employability.

If you are a prospective learner or employer and are interested in learning more about the Skills Bootcamp, please visit our website Skills Bootcamp - University of Huddersfield