Sydney, Australia, 04 February, 2022 – Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has entered a strategic partnership with DeakinCo., a division of Deakin University, to co-design a series of corporate learning programs to meet the growing demand of talent in emerging technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, data analytics and robotics. The programs aim to help address the digital skills gap and accelerate the economic growth of Australia. The new partnership brings together Deakin's academic excellence and TCS' extensive industry networks and experience. The first program, to be piloted in early 2022, will focus on machine learning, which consists of three streams enabling senior executives, mid-management and practitioners to leverage the power of this emerging technology in their chosen profession. Each stream will be facilitated by academics and industry experts. The programs are designed to address specific capability gaps for businesses and will provide learners with an engaging experience that goes to the heart of the skills and knowledge required in these dynamic fields.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay; of that, there's little doubt AI technology can save time and money with sophisticated automation, boost productivity, and give invaluable insights to the trickiest commercial conundrums. All things considered, it's an excellent innovation. But developing the human expertise to make the most of non-human intellect takes time. While the next generation of workers will be naturally AI-literate -- raised in a world in which the technology is utterly ubiquitous -- the current cohort needs brought up to speed, and fast. For businesses weighing up an AI overhaul, there's one particularly tricky question to be addressed: should tech experts be brought in to drive adoption, or can existing management garner the skills required to do it themselves? In other words, can today's business leaders be taught new tricks, or do we need a whole new brand of AI-ready bosses?

Businesses need to pivot as consumers have become more connected, workplaces have been restructured, and logistical challenges must be overcome. The use of technology has been a key differentiator in how well companies have adapted to the change. That's one reason why, according to IDC research, global spending on digital transformation products and services continued to grow in 2020. But bridging what our company calls the digital gap - which arises when consumer behavior evolves faster than most businesses evolve – requires more than just new technology. Here are five pieces of advice on how to outpace change and become a catalyst for transformation at your company.

We need to keep the essence of human-centric AI. This is at least how we see things in the EU. We don't want a form of AI that will replace everything - we want AI that will complement what we do, and to leave more space for us to be creative and have a better quality of life. One individual who is already seeing that creativity first-hand is Frank Salzgeber, head of innovation at the European Space Agency's (ESA) venture office. His organisation supports 220 new start-ups a year.

Mayor Sylvester Turner announced on Monday that the city of Houston has expanded its groundbreaking digital alliance with Microsoft to innovate in big data, artificial intelligence and the digital economy. Microsoft brings to Houston "Accelerate," a new program designed to address economic recovery through skilling both underserved communities and re-skilling the many Americans impacted by COVID-19. The collaboration is intended to create new economic opportunity, close equity and digital skills gaps, and prepare a workforce for the 21st century. "Microsoft launched the Accelerate program at a time when closing the digital divide has never been more important," said Kate Johnson, president of Microsoft U.S. "We're thrilled to be joining Mayor Turner and an impressive group of partners in this effort to expand access to in-demand digital skills--and close digital skills gaps widened by COVID-19--through Accelerate: Houston." The mayor was joined by Jacky Wright, chief digital officer, Microsoft U.S., to announce details of the Houston Innovation Alliance and Accelerate: Houston.

Macdeo was commenting on recent research which was conducted by Dell Technologies and the Institute for the Future, an independent research group based in California, which found that the work and learning environments of 2030 are already being shaped by the technology trends of today. Human and machine partnerships will create more equitable workplaces by evaluating candidates based on their capabilities, rather than gender, age or class. Employees will collaborate in entirely different, immersive ways using technologies such as XR, empowering workers more than ever before. AI will complement and augment human capabilities rather than replace them, and a deep understanding of AI and human and machine systems will unlock human potential and set workers apart. The research explored how technologies such as collaborative AI, multimodal interfaces, extended reality (XR), and secure distributed ledgers could change the congruence between humans and machines, while simultaneously enhancing collaboration within organisations.

Access to skilled workers is already a key factor that sets successful companies apart from failing ones. In an increasingly data-driven future - the European Commission believes there could be as many as 756,000 unfilled jobs in the European ICT sector by 2020 - this difference will become even more acute. Skills gaps across all industries are poised to grow in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and other emerging technologies are happening in ever shorter cycles, changing the very nature of the jobs that need to be done - and the skills needed to do them - faster than ever before. At least 133 million new roles generated as a result of the new division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms may emerge globally by 2022, according to the World Economic Forum.

The lack of computing skills has been a topic I've covered a number of times, with the skills shortage holding back developments in both data science and AI. The issue was nicely encapsulated in recent news that there were more vacancies for IT-related jobs than people looking for them in the United States. A number of attempts have been made to close this gap, including projects by both Google and NVIDIA that I've covered before. Putting their hat into the ring are open source giant Red Hat, who have recently teamed up with independent school Lord Wandsworth College and the University of Surrey to produce the Open Schools Coding Competition, which the consortium hope will inspire the next generation of coders. The competition is in its second year and has 10 schools competing.

Last week MPs warned that the UK is facing a digital skills crisis. Its report explained that 90% of jobs require digital skills to some degree, but flagged that the UK needs another 745,000 workers with digital skills by 2017 in order to remain competitive against other countries. At the moment the skills gap is reportedly costing the UK around 63bn a year. In tandem, we are seeing more companies invest in automation and artificial intelligence (AI), which reduces the need for humans in the decision making process. For example, Twitter recently announced the acquisition of machine learning startup, Magic Pony Technology.