University News Last updated 08 July 2015
Council cabinet members are to gather at Birmingham City University this week for the launch of Academy Cube’s e-skills learning centre and UK National Office, which aims to tackle Europe’s shortage of STEM skills.
Academy Cube is a career and online learning platform which offers an intelligent matching system, allowing STEM talent to identify and develop the skills and qualifications they require for specific roles in the workplace.
Located at Birmingham City University’s Centre for Enterprise Systems, the Academy Cube’s UK National Office aims to develop the strategic alignment with the STEM agenda in the UK and Ireland to build the next generation of talent for industry, addressing the challenges of employability, skilling and apprenticeship opportunities.
Ardavan Amini, Director of the Centre for Enterprise Systems at Birmingham City University, said: "This is a great opportunity for Birmingham City University to play a key role in addressing STEM skills shortages. As well as developing the skills of our own students, through the running of Academy Cube’s UK headquarters here in Birmingham, we’ll also be helping to equip future technologists and engineers from across the country with the appropriate skills they need for a long and successful career.”
CEO of the Academy Cube, Bernd Böckenhoff, added: "With Birmingham City University, Academy Cube found the perfect partner to get talents into STEM jobs and address the lack of skilled labour in UK and Ireland. Without co-operation like this, Europe will lack the experts it needs in the long-term to drive innovation."
By 2020, the current shortfall of engineers in the UK is forecast to reach one million.
Speaking at the launch at the University’s City Centre Campus on Thursday 9 July will be Birmingham City Council councillors Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for Sustainability and Skills and Penny Holbrook, Cabinet Member for Skills, Learning and Culture.
Also speaking at the launch will be representatives from SAP, the world's leading provider of enterprise business applications. Dr. Bernd Welz, Executive Vice President at SAP, said: "We're delighted that Birmingham City University will be the home to Academy Cube’s UK National Office, where talents are able to prepare themselves for specific jobs in the STEM sector whilst starting their careers in an exciting and promising field."
The free-to-attend launch events will highlight opportunities to bridge the STEM skills gap and the skills required of graduate talent to succeed in STEM roles.