The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has unveiled a £1m fund to help construction firms undergo a digital transformation to keep pace with rapid change in the sector.
Revealing details at the Digital Construction Summit, organised by Construction Manager and BIM+, CITB’s strategy & policy director, Steve Radley, explained that the main challenges to small and medium-sized employers was not getting the technical skills themselves to use digital technology, but rather a lack of understanding of the business opportunities digital transformation brings and the leadership required to make it happen.
Explaining the skills challenge firms face during a different session at the event, Dr Noha Saleeb, professor of creative technologies and construction, Middlesex University, said: “One of the biggest challenges that we have identified is how to upskill the professions in the industry and how to start earlier on at undergraduate level. We cannot just rely on the traditional method of just teaching the technical skills. There are seven other identified skills that are important, such as how you implement the operational skills, how to create a strategy plan, and changing the mindset of the individual to start recognising the opportunities to bring into the business. Another one is entrepreneurial skills which is not concentrated on at all within academia.”
The applications for CITB’s new fund must come from groups of at least three organisations – a project lead and two more partners. The partners should include at least two CITB-registered employers, CITB-approved training groups, or construction federations and training associations.
It is also keen to invite bids from software development companies, management consultancies with digital business change expertise, leadership think tanks, and educational establishments as part of the group.
CITB has £1m available to invest in a range of projects and will fund up to 70% of the total value of the project.
The deadline for expressions of interest is 18 June, with a deadline for applications submissions of 2 July.
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Hi we are a forward thinking construction company that is embracing the use of digital technology we would very much like to be included in this initiative if possible, please keep me connected with any future development that we could get involved with. We are a registered ATO and CIOB training partner we are also registered with the CITB as a construction company