Tech City: Digital skills scheme to get young people jobs

Tech City companies in borough (Image: Archant)

The WeAreDotDotDot project is an online platform aimed at connecting east London’s youngsters with digital courses, apprenticeships and events to help them gain essential skills for jobs in the sector.

The scheme emerged from an employment report by Centre for London and will roll out across Hackney, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Newham on March 25.

The report’s figures show employment rates in Tower Hamlets have risen by about four per cent in 2013 to 2014, compared to the previous year.

Centre for London’s Jess Tyrrell, who runs the project, said despite this there were still many tech companies seeking out young talent.

Employment rates graphic (Image: Archant)

She said: “It is about connecting the community more with Tech City and thinking how we can link these opportunities to young people who live in these boroughs and what the exciting prospects are.

“If we make these better connections with these existing opportunities we can then make them much more accessible to young people. In Tech City is can be difficult to say which door to you knock on as there is not just one, but lots of small ones.”

Jess added: “The good news is there are lots of programmes that are growing that can really help connect young people. If you are seven or eight, you can go to code clubs down in Google Campus. There are lots of things for older young people as well like tech city apprenticeships which are getting bigger and better, but they still struggle to get young people applying to them.”

The WeAreDotDotDot online platform will allow young people aged as young as five years old up to 25 to search for opportunities by their location.

Abdul Shahin, 21 of Bethnal Green Road discovered the scheme through his tutors while studying mobile app development.

He said: “One of my tutors got us involved in the campaign and we attended one of the earlier WeAreDotDotDot events. I am interested in technology because of the way everyone is relying on it now; there will always be something developing and you will always be making something new.”

The WeAreDotDotDot project has also received support from organisations like Barclays, by the Mayor of London and Tech City UK.

Jess said: “We have spoken to a lot of local authorities and political people and so we know that all the boroughs are keen on having something like this. We have four very distinct boroughs and we want to bring that together with private sector to offer something significant to them.”0

Jess added: “I’ve lived in east London for 15 years on the border of Hackney and Tower Hamlets and I’ve seen the area change a lot. I think it’s very exciting but I think it needs to be inclusive and I am passionate about the importance of creating ways in which we are as democratic as possible about who gets to succeed from the opportunities in Tech City.

“It’s important for the fabric of our community and what we call home otherwise there is a danger that we have this divided community between the rich and poor.”

Tony Margiotto, manager of the Central Working Space in Whitechapel, where the project is being run has been providing space to facilitate the courses.

Working with more than 800 Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs), he said the project would invaluable in helping these start-ups scale up.

He said: “We have this space which is amazing and it is just one of many, and the whole idea is that we are creating this space that is the ideal environment for, not only small companies to grow but equally space for young people to come in and be taught by these experts.”

Those who are interested in signing up can come to a sneak preview on March 11 at Central Working Space, in Mile End Road, to get a sense of how the platform works.

People can also pre-register for the site on wearedotdotdot.com.