26 Feb 2024
by Zach Beckett

Tackling the digital divide and empowering the future workforce

Tackling Economic Inequality - Create new businesses, jobs and skills, and increase supply chain resilience and capacity.

Empowering the future workforce and addressing the digital divide.

In the time of a cost-of-living crisis, growing digital skills gap, and the birth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), how can we as technology companies assist in tackling economic inequality through a targeted response to the policy outcomes in the Social Value model?

Our mission at Accenture is simple. We want to provide outcome-focused Social Value initiatives to drive impact for our clients, delivering positive and measurable social, economic, and environmental change in the communities where we live and work. Accenture Health and Public Services Client Accounts have now delivered £18.6m of Social Value to date, validated by our third-party measurement partner, Social Value Portal.

The following statistics demonstrate the need for swift, material, and tailored solutions in our Social Value responses in line with Procurement Policy Note 06/20:

  • Within 20 years, it is predicted that 90% of jobs will require digital skills1, yet 93% businesses in the UK report there is a digital skills gap within the UK job market.2
  • 40% of UK businesses report AI and machine learning as the most sought-after skill in the job market.3
  • A lack of basic digital skills is costing UK workers £5.69 billion in additional earning, with 21% of the workforce reporting needing greater digital skills to earn a higher salary to combat the cost-of-living crisis 4

For these reasons, Theme 2 of the Social Value Model, Tackling Economic Inequality, is our focus today.

At Accenture, deploying technology and digital skills is core to our community investment strategy and addressing the digital divide. In 2018, we developed our digital skills and employability hubs: the Skills to Succeed Academy and Accenture Digital Skills. In 2021, the Accenture Digital Skills course was recognised as accredited CPD training. Through partnerships with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), National Careers Service, Careers Wales and Skills Development Scotland, our programmes have already reached more than 550,000 people across the UK. With the AI era upon us, we have developed AI modules to empower the UK workforce to stay up to date on key emerging technologies. Modules include an Introduction to AI, AI in Industry, and how to adapt your skills to work with AI within the workplace.

At Accenture, our longstanding commitment to corporate citizenship has led us to have the building blocks in place to help scale social value through collaboration. For us, as Tech businesses, the next step is to consistently provide palpable and focused Social Value in the communities where we do work, through our central government engagements and collaboration with our public sector clients.

An example of this came on one of our contracts with HMRC, delivered in conjunction with one of our external Social Value delivery partners, Startup Sherpas, in Autumn 2023. We ran a ‘SuperSquad’ – a 6-week, practical, paid work experience programme where teens from across the UK engaged in real business and societal challenges. For this SuperSquad, we asked 100 teenagers, from 71 different ethnic backgrounds across the UK to develop ideas to combat tax fraud.

The Squad generated a total of 1,000 ideas, encompassing AI-powered financial management applications, educational campaigns for young people, and technology for detecting counterfeit currency. It was designed to foster an environment where a wide array of ideas could flourish, driving real innovation, whilst giving the students genuine work experience. Key headlines from the Squad are seen below:

  • 41% of the teenagers now see a career in Tech.
  • 16% are considering a career in Tax.
  • 17 students are investigating career opportunities directly with HMRC.
  • 47% felt more confident at communicating.
  • 48% felt their creativity had improved.
  • £13k paid into local teen economy.
  • £201k of Social Value created.

Through this work Accenture, HMRC, and Startup Sherpas created direct social and economic impact in the communities where these 100 teenagers live, business impact through the innovative ideas for HMRC and transformative impact for the teenagers taking part.

This is a great example of collaboration across public, private, and third sectors to really focus on a specific need. Social Value cannot become a transactional exercise from contract-to-contract. Instead, we need to work closely with clients and delivery partners to draw out the true localised benefits that can be realised through a collaborative approach. We, as Social Value leaders, all have a shared responsibility to build a fairer, more inclusive society. Let’s work together to make a real difference.

Zach Beckett, Social Value Knowledge Management Lead in the Social Value Centre of Excellence at Accenture. Zach has worked in Social Value for 3 years, timing the wave perfectly to join the industry as Procurement Policy Note 06/20 was mandated into Central Government contracts.


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Heather Cover-Kus

Heather Cover-Kus

Head of Central Government Programme, techUK

Heather is Head of Central Government Programme at techUK, working to represent the supplier community of tech products and services to Central Government.

Prior to joining techUK in April 2022, Heather worked in the Economic Policy and Small States Section at the Commonwealth Secretariat.  She led the organisation’s FinTech programme and worked to create an enabling environment for developing countries to take advantage of the socio-economic benefits of FinTech.

Before moving to the UK, Heather worked at the Office of the Prime Minister of The Bahamas and the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

Heather holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP, a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from LSE, and a BA in Economics and Sociology from Macalester College.

Email:
[email protected]
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-cover-kus-ba636538

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Ellie Huckle

Ellie Huckle

Programme Manager, Central Government, techUK

Ellie joined techUK in March 2018 as a Programme Assistant to the Public Sector team and now works as a Programme Manager for the Central Government Programme.

The programme represents the supplier community of technology products and services in Central Government – in summary working to make Government a more informed buyer, increasing supplier visibility in order to improve their chances of supplying to Government Departments, and fostering better engagement between the public sector and industry. To find out more about what we do, how we do this and how you can get involved – make sure to get in touch!

Prior to joining techUK, Ellie completed Sixth Form in June 2015 and went on to work in Waitrose, moved on swiftly to walking dogs and finally, got an office job working for a small local business in North London, where she lives with her family and their two Bengal cats Kai and Nova.

When she isn’t working Ellie likes to spend time with her family and friends, her cats, and enjoys volunteering for diabetes charities. She has a keen interest in writing, escaping with a good book and expanding her knowledge watching far too many quiz shows!

Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
020 7331 2015
Twitter:
@techUK,@techUK
Website:
www.techuk.org,www.techuk.org
LinkedIn:
https://bit.ly/3mtQ7Jx,https://bit.ly/3mtQ7Jx

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Annie Collings

Annie Collings

Programme Manager, Cyber Security and Central Government, techUK

Annie joined techUK as the Programme Manager for Cyber Security and Central Government in September 2023. In this role, she supports the Cyber Security SME Forum, engaging regularly with key government and industry stakeholders to advance the growth and development of SMEs in the cyber sector.

Before joining techUK, Annie was an Account Manager at a specialist healthcare agency, where she provided public affairs support to a wide range of medical technology clients. She also gained experience as an intern in both an MP’s constituency office and with the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed. Annie holds a degree in International Relations from Nottingham Trent University.

Email:
[email protected]
Twitter:
anniecollings24
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-collings-270150158/

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Ella Gago-Brookes

Ella Gago-Brookes

Team Assistant, Markets, techUK

Ella joined techUK in November 2023 as a Markets Team Assistant, supporting the Justice and Emergency Services, Central Government and Financial Services Programmes.  

Before joining the team, she was working at the Magistrates' Courts in legal administration and graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2022.  Ella attained an undergraduate degree in History and Politics, and a master's degree in International Relations and Security Studies, with a particular interest in studying asylum rights and gendered violence.  

In her spare time she enjoys going to the gym, watching true crime documentaries, travelling, and making her best attempts to become a better cook.  

Email:
[email protected]

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Authors

Zach Beckett

Zach Beckett

Social Value Knowledge Management Lead, Accenture