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YORKSHIRE
AND HUMBER'S GROUND BREAKING TECHNOLOGY SKILLS PROGRAMME
CELEBRATED AT PRESS ASSOCIATION IN HOWDEN
The
ancient Bishop's Manor in Howden, home to the Press Association's
Multimedia Training Centre, was recently host to a high
profile celebration and awards ceremony marking the impact
in the region of some of the most up-to-date technology
training now available in the UK.
The
event was organised to celebrate the achievements of the
Yorkshire Forward ICT Vendor Skills Programme, a £2.8m
investment that has helped to fund Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) and digital media training for over 2000
people including hundreds of businesses across Yorkshire
and Humber.
The
Humber, York and North Yorkshire NTI (New Technology Institute)
and Selby College, both key partners in the ICT Vendor Skills
Programme, jointly led the event. Awards were presented
for outstanding training achievements and team efforts to
individuals and organisations from business, education and
community work across Humber and North Yorkshire. Speakers
at the event included Don Stewart, Director of People Development
for Yorkshire Forward, Steven Brown, Managing Director of
the Press Association (PA), Chris Kitchener, one of global
digital media company Adobe's leading presenters in the
UK, and Bill Walker, Head of the Humber York and North Yorkshire
NTI. The evening also featured guided tours of the Press
Association's editorial facilities.
Steven
Brown of PA, opened the evening: "Here at the Press
association, we are great believers in training. Over the
last five years we've taken literally hundreds of journalism
graduates from Universities in the area and provided them
with essential further training to give them industry skills.
We are committed to the highest quality of training and
that is why we have invested, with the support of Yorkshire
Forward, in a state of the art media facility here at Bishop's
Manor. Howden is indeed an exciting place to be."
Don
Stewart of Yorkshire Forward enlarged on the potential of
the region; "Tonight is a celebration of individuals
who have succeeded in developing their skills. Around 80,000
people in Yorkshire and Humber are employed in the Creative
and Digital Industries and Yorkshire Forward has invested
around £3million in training to build on that capability.
Together, we've set the ball rolling. The ICT Vendor Skills
Programme has proved how essential industry training is
to individuals and employers."
Chris
Kitchener of Adobe, a global brand in digital media and
one of the key industry partners in the ICT Vendor Skills
Programme, talked about Adobe's attitudes toward IT training
and how raising awareness is essential; "At Adobe we
are always aware that technology is not enough in its own
right. When people invest in our products, training is the
crucial part; the most powerful tools are no use if you
don't understand how to use them well. This is an important
message for businesses; both you and your employees benefit
from training. You keep a competitive advantage and you
retain and develop your talent. Training should be at the
top of your budgets."
The
event demonstrated the level of awareness that has already
been raised by the Yorkshire Forward ICT Vendor Skills Programme
about the value of industry approved IT training in today's
career and business market. Bill Walker, head of Humber
York and North Yorkshire NTI closed the evening; "This
is all about the individuals who have carried out training
and the individuals who have taken training; each and every
one of them has their own small success story."
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