Network Security

Digital skills shortage poses a security risk

The Commons Science and Technology Committee reports that by 2017, the UK will need 745,000 more workers with digital skills and warns that organisations lacking the necessary digital skills face increased security threats and failed cloud migrations if the problem is not addressed.


Organisations are already feeling the effect of the skills shortage. “Our increasing digitally-led business environment means that STEM and digital skills are essential in the UK, both within technology firms and virtually every other industry. To protect our future economy, we must encourage uptake of STEM subjects among schoolchildren, and government initiatives like the upcoming Digital Strategy are important,” said Regina Moran, CEO of Fujitsu UK & Ireland.

 

Similar research from Harvey Nash and KPMG found that 65 percent of CIOs are suffering from a technology skills shortage that is holding them back.

 

“The technological capabilities available to business have exploded over the last few years, with big data, analytics, cloud computing, and many more progressions bringing new and exciting possibilities. However, in order to take advantage and deploy these new capabilities securely and effectively, organisations need to have a number of specialised skillsets at their disposal,” commented Phil Bindley, CTO at The Bunker.

 

“The complex processes that the IT departments are undergoing, such as cloud adoption, all entail close attention to data security. It is therefore a real and immediate concern that needs to be tackled head on with the appropriate skillsets. Businesses need to ensure that they have these skills at their disposal, as failure to protect data adequately will heighten the risk of a security breach,” Bindley said.

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