Page 84 - Regional Employment & Skills Plan 2019

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A Digital Square and 3,500 capacity Digital Arena that will provide conference facilities and major event space for tech industries and the universities. The arena will be located within a new cutting edge Digital Square in Swansea City Centre to create a distinctive and unique destination. The main contractor for the scheme has been appointed and construction work has started on site, with completion scheduled for the end of 2020. In addition a hotel opportunity is currently being marketed to private sector developers.
Investment in this digital projects has clear indications of job creation within the digital space and the Box Village and Innovation Precinct suggests closer collaboration with partners such as Business Wales, Careers Wales and others is needed. Effective collaboration will enable stronger working relationships to develop with start-up businesses, who can then in turn capitalise on opportunities offered to them through the project. Engagement with the start-up businesses may lead to further discovery of unforeseen skills needs.
A Regional Collaboration for Health (ARCH)92
ARCH is a regional partnership made up of Swansea University, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg and Hywel Dda University Health Boards. The ARCH partnership are working to improve the health, wealth and wellbeing of the people of South West Wales.
There are plans to develop ABMU’s Morriston and Singleton sites and City Deal funding would accelerate plans for both sites to become world-class Health Science Campuses.
55 acres of land has been acquired adjacent to the existing hospital at Morriston and plans are progressing for a new access road from the M4 into the site. Morriston is anticipated to become the base of south Wales's third Institute of Life Science, which will create a unique health & life science innovation environment.
The Singleton health campus will see the establishment of Swansea University’s Healthcare Technology Centre - a core component of the ARCH science park vision for Singleton. This second health campus will focus on science and technology, working to:
• Grow the Medical School’s under and postgraduate student numbers;
• Support the growth of research scale, quality and impact;
• Provide a platform for life science companies, researchers and students; and
• Kick start the development of health and life science products, processes and services.
The project certainly evokes optimism for improved health care provision in the future should plans be realised. However, three key challenges lie ahead. Brexit and uncertainties regarding freedom of movement is a concern if the labour market is reduced as a result. The other challenge is addressing potential training gaps, should advances in new technologies be introduced through this project. The final challenge is the prospect that employers will expect a multi-disciplinary workforce in the future. If more ‘rounded’ individuals are expected with skills in business and in medicine for example, courses may need to adapt to meet changing expectations.
The RLSP will need to carry out its role as the lead partner of the Skills and Talent Intervention project care- fully. Strong collaboration is needed between the RLSP, ARCH and other partners to:
• Promote medicine and health care career options more widely,
• Identify and address any additional training needs,
• Collaborate with stakeholders to shape effective career pathways,
• Collaborate with stakeholders to make existing medicine and health care related courses more relevant.
92 https://www.swansea.ac.uk/medicine/partners/arch/
Regional Employment & Skills Plan South West & Mid Wales Learner and Provider Consultation Analysis