Presentation

Skills for Impact – An Industry Perspective
Victor Chavez CBE
Chief Executive
Thales UK
15th April 2015
Key Topics
2 /

The Thales Context

UK STEM Context

Sectoral perspectives: Defence and Tech Sector

Thales Response to the Challenge

Conclusions
3 /
The Thales Context
444/ //
How our customers see the world…
A complex world where the security of people and goods, infrastructure
and nations depends on the ability of organisations to make the right
decisions and act in a timely fashion to obtain the best outcomes
in all the markets we serve…
5 /
Dual markets civil / military
Aerospace
Space
Defence
Trusted partner for a safer world
Security
Ground
Transportation
Worldwide operations…
6 /
67,000 employees in 56 countries
Global reach, local expertise
and global leadership
7 /
Payloads for
telecom
satellites
Air Traffic
Management
Rail signalling
systems
Avionics
€14 billion in revenues
Sonars
In-flight entertainment
and connectivity
Civil satellites
Security for
interbank
transactions
Military tactical
radiocommunications
Surface radars
A strategy driven by innovation…
8 /
Long-term vision

20% of revenues invested in R&D

Focus on key technical domains

Complex systems
 Hardware (sensor technologies)
 Software
 Algorithms and decision support

Open research policy

International network of research centres
 Cooperation with academic and government
research institutes worldwide

Albert Fert, scientific director of the CNRS/Thales
joint physics unit and winner of the 2007
Nobel Prize in Physics.
Focused product policy

Shorter development cycles
 Risk reduction
Inventing tomorrow’s products today
..and supported by a diverse skill set
9 /
Huge diversity of specialist engineering skills
across Thales UK alone…

Radar engineers

Laser physicists

Materials scientists

Acoustic engineers

Optics

Aerodynamicists

Cryptographers

Communications engineers

Even Rocket scientists……
Specialisms developed over decades
10 /
UK STEM Context
11 /
The state of engineering 2015
12 /
Supply of engineers
13 /
Perceptions of engineering – more to do
14 /
Perceptions of engineering - more to do
Widening participation
15 /

The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair
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UK’s largest youth STEM event, with 75,000+ visitors to the 2014 Fair at NEC,
Birmingham
Over half the key 11-14 year-old age-group learnt a lot and two thirds of young
attendees took the opportunity to speak to someone about careers
The Big Bang Near Me – gives young people and their teachers an opportunity to
experience The Big Bang closer to home
Tomorrow’s Engineers


Mission: That every child will understand the variety, excitement and
opportunity presented by a career in engineering, with an equal number of girls
and boys aspiring to become an engineer, so that UK employers get the
engineers they need.
Delivery: Through a national programme that gives every child between the
ages of 11 and 14 at least one engineering experience with an employer to help
them make the connection between school work and career possibilities.
Key Objectives for Collaborative action
16 /

Either a doubling of the number of engineering graduates or a 50%
increase in the number of engineering and technology and other
related STEM and non-STEM graduates who are known to enter
engineering occupations

A doubling of the number of young people studying GCSE physics
as part of triple sciences

A two-fold increase in the number of Advanced Apprenticeship
achievements

Provision of careers inspiration for all 11-14 year olds

Support for teachers and careers advisors delivering careers
information
17 /
Sectoral Perspectives
UK Defence Industry
18 /

UK Defence Industry Annual Turnover £35bn



10% of UK Manufacturing
9000 companies involved (including SMEs)
UK Defence Employs ~300,000 people


~120,000 engineering skilled people (Level 3+)
Typically 10-15% of the defence engineering population are key
specialists in particular domains


Of these specialists probably 10% represent the most
knowledgeable and experienced sovereign skills


Normally it requires 10+ years of experience to develop these
specialists
Typically 20+ years experience
Therefore ~1200 engineers are really key to the success of the
industry

In some key skills areas this represents a small handful of individuals
Defence Industry: Future Skills Requirements
19 /


Ageing Demographic, limited Population

High proportion of the specialist and sovereign skills are over 55
years old

There is a lack of SQEP particularly in the 40-50 year old population

Defence key engineering roles normally require UK nationals
Recruitment

The industry needs to recruit circa >5000 engineers per year to
address the gaps and shift skills even to maintain the same level of
contribution to the UK GDP

Unless we increase the number of STEM graduates by 50% in the
next 10 years we will have a significant skills gap
Engineering Career Progression
20 /
UK Defence industry attracts
talent because of the
interesting technical challenge


Managing
Director
Technical
Expert
Engineering
Professional
The career path needs to be
equal in opportunity between

Technical Expert Path

Managerial Path

Middle Ground between the two
Without the right balance too
many talented engineers feel
compelled to take a
management path further
reducing the pool of talent
capable of delivering next
generation advanced systems
~5 Years Experience
MSc/PhD
Graduates
Apprentices
Defence Industry: Skilling for the Future
21 /


Learning through Experience

50+ generation gained experience on large defence contracts
starting almost from clean sheets of paper

Passing on knowledge of key sovereign skills needs to be through
structured mentoring and coaching of the next generation
Training

Defence systems are much more incremental now evolving from the
previous version and often evolving through software upgrade
rather than hardware

Systems and Software Architecting skills are critical to successful
incremental solutions

DGP Initiative on Defence Systems Engineering Trailblazer MSc Level
Apprenticeships launches in 2015 to accelerate the development of the
next generation
Defence Industry: Future Engineering Requirements
22 /

Changing Technology Focus

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Bespoke Processing Hardware -> COTS Hardware
Equipment -> Systems or Systems of Systems
Standalone -> Networked
Man-in the loop -> Autonomy
Signal Processing - > Big Data Analytics
Conventional Materials -> Nano-Materials/Smart Materials
Computers -> Quantum Computers
External Power -> Battery Power/Energy Harvesting
Many technologies are dual use enabling UK engineering to
address both defence and commercial markets

Autonomy (Maritime, Air, Land)



DGP Initiative on Maritime Autonomy
Recent Government Announcement to invest £100m in driverless cars
Nano-Materials (Graphene, Carbon nano-tubes)
The tech sector environment
23 /
The sector is in massive growth

The number of companies in the tech industry (IT / Telecoms) has grown by 17%
over the last 5 years (compared to +5% across the UK economy overall).

Tech industry employment has grown 17% over this period, and employment of
tech specialists by 15%, compared to 5% for the economy overall.

In the last year alone, there was significant growth in occupations such IT project
and programme managers (+10%); and software developers (+8%).

Employment of tech specialists will grow at an average of 2.6% p.a. over the
coming decade, compared with 0.8% for UK employment as a whole.
And recruitment is problematic….

134,000 new recruits are needed into tech specialist roles a year.

42% of employers who are recruiting tech specialists
find it difficult to fill those positions – 85% of them
saying this is due to skills shortages.

The sector is missing out on half the talent pool, with
only 16% of the tech specialist workforce being female.
The University environment
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
Circa 20,000 students qualify from IT-related HE courses a year (e.g
computing, computer science, information systems).

46% of qualifiers take up tech specialist positions on leaving university
(26% in the tech industry itself and 19% in other industries)

11.3% are unemployed 6 months after leaving (compared to 5.5% for all
HE qualifiers)

13% are female (compared to 57% for all HE qualifiers)

They are more likely than any other subject to have low prior attainment,
drop out and leave with pass degrees.
Both industry and academia are motivated to strengthen intake and
outcomes from IT-related Higher Education.
25 /
The role of the Tech Partnership
The Tech Partnership is a growing network of employers,
collaborating to create the skills tor the digital economy.
It acts for the good of all with the following objectives:

Inspire new talent to pursue technology careers, with a particular focus on
females

Create new jobs for people entering the workforce from school and
university

Develop new skills for strategically important growth

Raise quality by setting standards and accrediting training and
development programmes that meets them
26 /
Impact in Higher Education
The Tech Partnership accredits and promotes Tech Industry Gold
degrees – courses designed and delivered in partnership with the tech
sector.

90+ employers are supporting 1,300 undergraduates in 21 universities

Employers define learning outcomes and accredit programmes that deliver
them.

Degrees cover technical, business and interpersonal skills

Employers actively support delivery – talks, competitions, events, skills
clinics.
Tech Industry Gold degrees are delivering outstanding employment
and academic outcomes:

No known unemployment

75% 1sts / 2:1s (compared to 51% for all IT-related
HE courses)

33% female (double the average for all IT-related
HE courses)
Defining the course
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Employers define the skills graduates need

Experts from a wide variety of employers work together to:
identify and agree the course outcomes
determine the weighting of technical, business and interpersonal skills
Academics define the course to deliver them

Academics create learning content which will deliver the results the
employers require and meet every learning outcome
Employers and academics ensure the course is up to date

At least once every three years, employers,
supported by academics, review the course
outcomes and ensure they remain current
28 /
Endorsement and accreditation

Rigorous and independent process to ensure the courses will
create graduates with the skills and knowledge industry requires.

For each university / course
- An independent academic assessment ensures all learning
outcomes are covered
- The employer group reviews and endorses approved
courses

The Tech Partnership is a Professional Accreditation body and
accredits endorsed courses as Tech Industry Gold
29 /
Employers supporting Tech Industry Gold degrees
30 /
Universities delivering Tech Industry Gold degrees
Aston University
Durham University
Glasgow Caledonian University
Lancaster University
Loughborough University
Northumbria University
Oxford Brookes University
Queen Mary University of London
University College London (UCL)
University of Chester
University of Chichester
University of Derby
University of Exeter
University of Greenwich
University of Hertfordshire
University of Manchester
University of Sheffield
University of South Wales
University of Surrey
University of West England (UWE)
University of West London (UWL)
Plus Tech Industry Gold Degree
Apprenticeship to launch September 2015:
•
Pilot with 18 employers, 160 students, 7 universities
•
Full honours degree delivered by university / employer
partnership
•
Student is employed
•
Tuition fees paid 2/3rds by government, 1/3 by
employer
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Thales Response
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So what are we doing about skills?
Recognised as a strategic issue ~ 7 years ago

Detailed analysis of skills and demographics

Strengthened approach to career development for engineering
specialists

Best practice Graduate Development Programme

Strategic approach to Apprentices

Active support for STEM outreach
33 /
Graduate Development Programme
Specialists and Experts Conference
STEM Initiatives
34 /
Big Bang Fair
Teach First
STEM Initiatives
35 /
Code Club is a nationwide network of
free volunteer-led after-school coding
clubs for children aged 9-11.
We create projects for our volunteers to
teach at after school coding clubs or at
non-school venues such as libraries. The
projects we make teach children how to
program by showing them how to make
computer games, animations and
websites. Our volunteers go to their
local club for an hour a week and teach
one project a week.
• Thales welcomes overhaul of IS
curriculum
• But means there will be an
estimate of 50,000 teachers
who have little or no practical
experience of writing software
• Essential that industry and
industrial volunteers contribute
though existing initiatives e.g.
Code Club
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Conclusions
Conclusions
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Collaborative approach required to address ‘grass roots’ STEM capabilities

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Engaging school children, families and communities
Developing engineering skills through academic and vocational/apprentice schemes
Tackling the diversity challenge
Making STEM attractive and accessible to Millennials
Need to leverage ‘good will’ of all stakeholders: government, schools, academia and
industry
Sectoral challenges vary widely



But despite different root causes still present the common challenge of shortages of
skilled STEM resources
UK ‘Tech’ sector is larger than Oil & Gas or Aerospace – but revenue and skills growth in
recent years came almost entirely from the software, creative and social sectors
Issue of sectoral attractiveness
So how to compete?

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Be able to match for cultural, career progression and lifestyle factors
Give a better opportunity to change the world - through engineering in medical, energy,
robotics & autonomy, cyber, industrial, national security, communications…
Offer a varied and progressive career working across companies, sectors or disciplines
38 /
Questions?