Getting access to skills

There are a number of inexpensive way to address skills gaps.

Here are a few to consider:

1. Latent Talent – do you have any latent talent within your organisation?

   • Who are the keen and enthusiastic people who are open to learning or are already doing some of this on their free time?

2. Partners – do any of the partners in your ecosystem have the skills (or data) to help?

   • What open data can you use?
   • What shared risk and reward structures can you explore for these first steps?

3. Placements – can a placement help you with an initial investment of skills?

   • Can you participate in The Data Lab’s industrial placement scheme?
   • Can you partner with Universities or start-ups in a way that offers value to you both e.g. exchanging access to real work data for access to talented individuals?
   • Can The Data Lab support you getting started through access to our data leaders, architects and scientists?

4. Funding – what funding is available to help you?

   • Are grants available for solving societal problems that you can use to build your capabilities? And to learn about ethical use of data.
   • Are grants available for economic innovation? For example InnovateUK?

5. Peers – can The Data Lab introduce you to peers who can share their advice for success?

One benefit of trying some of these small, inexpensive steps is that it allows you to understand what skills you really need, what they cost and how many of them it to keep in-house or to get through partnerships.

Do you have any observations or tips that that you would like to share?