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Last Thursday industry professionals from across the country gathered at Verizon’s slick London Hub in at MidCity Place, Holborn, for a Changemaker Moments event on Manufacturing. Hosted by Unloc, our Unloc Changemaker Alliance Members Verizon Business and Juniper Networks, and The Manufacturer – the event welcomed delegates from 25 manufacturing leaders, 25 young people, and members from all three organisations. Together they engaged with panels, explored emerging AI, IoT and robotics, networked, and even enjoyed a speed-mentoring session.
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The Manufacturer’s 2024 research revealed that the biggest challenge facing the industry today is Leadership, People, and Skills, with 24% of manufacturing leaders saying this is the most pressing issue. What the research discovered is that that culture and skills are at the root of this.
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Young, tech-native demographics entering the workforce are bringing to light the need for a cultural shift in the industry. And, as an aging industry during, tech is desperately in need of attracting young people with these digital skills and innovative ideas.
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The question posed to delegates was ‘How do we do this? How do we rebrand the industry while attracting the talent that will help us do just that?’
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This opened the way for much debate and sharing of experiences and thoughts on the current state of the industry, as well as where it’s headed in the coming future. Where are organisations seeing themselves headed – and how do they intend to get there?
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During the event the delegates experienced:
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The event was buzzing with energy and enthusiasm as business leaders got to hear directly from young people themselves, hear their ideas, their experiences, and where they see themselves posited within the industry.
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It was also a great opportunity for business leaders to get to know one another, network and see where their organisations and ambitions align in the industry.
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Unloc’s Managing Director Hayden Taylor said:
“Events like our Changemaker Moments Days are exactly why we formed the Unloc Changemaker Alliance in the first place, bringing together business leaders from across industry to meet and connect directly with young people. To have this direct line of access to hear from industry leaders, to gain insight and hear their lived experience is so valuable and inspiring.”
“In return professionals get to engage with young changemakers just starting out on their own career journey, to share in their enthusiasm and vision for the world and the industry as they imagine it – a whole new generation of professionals just waiting to emerge and share their talents. It was a fantastic event and I know everyone I spoke to enjoyed it immensely. A huge thank you to young people that came along to speak today, to The Manufacturer, and to our amazing partners Verizon Business and Juniper Networks for working with us to deliver such an engaging event.”
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More Changemaker Moment events soon, click here and follow us on LinkedIn for all the latest updates!
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Is your organisation interested in joining the Unloc Changemaker Alliance? Click here for more info
Unloc’s Programme Facilitator for Entrepreneurial Skills & Career Pathways, Christopher Amedu, recently represented Unloc at the Global Peter Drucker Forum in Vienna.
The Forum is an international management conference ran by the Peter Drucker Society Europe.
The conference is dedicated to Peter Drucker, (1909-2005) one of the most widely-known and influential thinkers on management, whose work continues to be used by managers’ worldwide. You can read more about Peter Drucker and his impact by clicking here.
Chris was kind enough to record his thoughts during the forum, so we thought we’d share them with you all too:
“My name is Christopher Amedu and I’m a Programme Facilitator here at Unloc. My job is to deliver inspiring programmes based on entrepreneurship and personal development to young people, to inspire, empower and help develop their potential.
The Global Peter Drucker Forum conference gathers the world’s leading management practitioners to talk about the world of work and how organisations can be improved to better serve humanity. The Forum is held annually each year in November, in Drucker’s home town of Vienna.
I was chosen for this opportunity because I finished as a Top 15 finalist in the global Drucker Essay Contest with my essay ‘A Journey to the Castle’. It was a fictional story illustrating the importance of fulfilling one’s personal potential.
This subject is one that I am truly so passionate about, and is one of the main reasons why I chose to work at Unloc. Meeting the fellow challenge winners was an incredible experience, I was able to meet fellow like-minded professionals who were also passionate about making a positive difference in the world.
At this year’s conference, the central debate focused on the future of human beings at work in the face of advancing technology and the rapidly developing world of AI which is making many businesses automated or performed by technology.
CEO’s management leaders and practitioners came up with insights as to how to best manage the inherent uncertainty in this area.
The session started with a warm welcome by the Austrian Federal Minister for Digital & Economic Affairs, and the President of the Global Peter Drucker Forum together with the conference chair and host.
As the conference went on, we participated in several plenary discussions. The main question that was asked was ‘what human strengths are needed to ensure that our technology/data-saturated societies and economies serve humanity well?’.
As rapidly advancing digital technology transforms the working environment we all exist within, questions inevitably arise where we as human beings will exist within many industries.
Some say human roles will be diminished; others insist that the growing possibilities of “data-driven” decisions and actions will call even more for people who can combine science with common sense.
The past years’ experience of global pandemic has thrown such questions into high relief, whether in organizations choosing to invest more heavily in automation or among policymakers implored to simply ‘follow the science.’
We can expect economic, fiscal, cultural, and political crises to escalate in the wake of Covid, and the tension between the technocratic and the humanistic forces to reach a breaking point.
The former see a time of upheaval as an opportune moment to force a large-scale “reset” to a system currently flawed in many ways.
The latter reject revolutionary redesign as counter to human nature – which craves, as Peter Drucker put it, a balance between ‘change and continuity’. Which is the best way forward, and how can we ensure that it prevails?
It’s not a topic or debate i’ve participated in before, and it was so enlightening to hear the views of everyone else attending, and inspiring to consider such an important topic alongside my peers, and hear their thoughts and observations on the topic.
These kinds of conversations i’m sure will become more prevalent as we move forwards into a future where technology plays an even bigger role in our everyday lives – and the impact of that plays out in our society.
A key quote that stood out to me during this year’s event was ‘Be kind to peers, the planet, humanity and yourself’ by Patricia Pomies, the Chief Operating Officer at Globant. Something we often lose amongst the busy working lives we all are consumed by at times.
I’m extremely grateful to Richard Straub for organising the Peter Drucker Forum, which was brilliantly hosted by Eduardo P. Braun and Katharina Moser. I feel extremely privileged to have attended this year’s event, and to have represented my Unloc colleagues and our organisation.”
To find out more about the Peter Drucker Forum simply click here!
Young people in the Solent region are expanding and developing their technology skills thanks to our new Enterprise Days programme in partnership with Portsmouth based software developer company Radweb Ltd.
The programme is designed to inspire young people to consider careers in technology and website development whilst also developing their entrepreneurial skills and ambitions.
As part of the roll-out, a series of technology-focused Enterprise Days are taking place in primary schools across the region, with the aim of opening their pupil’s eyes to potential careers in the sector.
Each event tasks the young people to design a technological solution to a local problem that they care about. They then work with the Unloc team to develop a concept, design a prototype and then present their ideas to an expert panel, including members of the Radweb team.
The programme is helping to address the root causes of the UK’s technology skills shortage early on. Youth Employment UK estimates that hi-tech roles such as software programmers and developers have increased by 72% since 2011, but there simply aren’t enough suitably skilled young people to fill all those roles.
The European Commission has suggested that the European economy is short of 900,000 ICT professionals already.
As well as addressing careers in technology, the project aims to develop participants’ confidence, problem-solving, communication and entrepreneurial skills, encouraged by the experts from Radweb Ltd and Unloc.
The programme has already been making a significant impact, with initial events at Mayville High School and Northern Parade Junior School.
Radweb Managing Director, Steve Rad, commented:
“We are extremely honoured and proud to be working on programmes that have a direct influence and impact on children’s education, helping to inspire them to consider a career path in technology.
We have been working with the team at Unloc for many years on various projects and as a Portsmouth based company, we have been equally inspired by the students and teachers involved in the Enterprise Days programme and see these initiatives as our way to give something back to this great city”.
Hayden Taylor, Managing Director of Unloc, said
“Working with Radweb in the past, we know what a brilliantly talented team of designers, programmers and marketing experts they are, and to partner with them to deliver this important programme to schools ensures that the young people attending have the very best support.”
“Our Enterprise Day programme addresses a crucial talent shortage in the region, and the skills and abilities they develop during these events can make a lasting impact upon the young people attending, one which may influence their future career choices, and open up a world of possibilities to them”.
About Radweb Ltd
Radweb was founded in 2007 by Steve Rad and James Taylor, both of whom graduated from the University of Portsmouth with degrees in Digital Media Marketing and Computer Science and a passion for all things technical.
Over the year’s the business has developed into a team of 28 passionate, qualified specialists, from designers to programmers to marketing experts and sales. Radweb are experts in finding creative solutions for interactive website applications, real estate software, eCommerce and digital marketing.
About Unloc
Unloc was founded in 2013 by award-winning young leaders and advocates Hayden
Taylor and Ben Dowling. Our mission is to empower young people to be innovative changemakers who seek to build stronger communities and sustainable businesses.
We develop young people’s skills, enhance their potential and boost their determination to succeed. This is encapsulated in our Developing Young Potential tagline. We work towards our mission by delivering inspiring educational programmes in our growing network of schools and colleges. In the 2018-19 academic year, Unloc’s programme reach increased by over 40% on the previous year to 10,910 young people.
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