The DMA is offering the direct marketing industry’s expertise to businesses growing increasingly concerned about the skills crisis, following a British Chambers of Commerce survey which found more than three-in-four firms are facing a shortage of digital skills in their workforce.
The BCC study in the UK’s digital economy, released late last week, found that this issue is having a serious impact on productivity.
DMA deputy chair Caroline Worboys said: “Technology continues to change our day-to-day lives and the knock-on effect on the UK economy is resulting in a lack of digital skills. The BCC research highlights the growing rise in businesses seeing this shortage in skills and with new data protection laws and banking regulation on the horizon, it’s easy to see how this challenge will increase.
“UK businesses are already seeing the contribution that AI and machine learning can offer, not to mention the opportunity to grow the economy using these skills and position ourselves at the forefront of the next phase of this digital revolution. The only way this will come to fruition is through education and training, ensuring we have the digital skills we need both within and entering our industry.
“Our experience is this can only happen through a combination of both digital skills and domain expertise, combining both the raw data, science, and technological skills, with the understanding of the advertising and marketing industry needed to utilise this knowledge. We are here to help businesses achieve this by delivering practical skills, education and training that’s taught by practitioners.”
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