West Midlands students part of tech scholarship drive from Government
The Minister for Tech and Digital Economy visited Birmingham City University to help build a more diverse tech industry.
On a visit at Birmingham City University, the Minister for Tech and Digital Economy has announced a boost of 17 million pounds extra funding to create 2,000 more scholarships in the AI and data science.
It's part of a push to build the tech sector to be more diverse.
The aim is for more women, black students, disabled students and people from low socio-economic backgrounds to join the industry.
It took place at BCU's new STEAMhouse facility, created for studies specialising in the tech sector.
Also, the visit coincides with the release of new research commissioned by the government which shows the West Midlands is one of the UK’s fastest growing tech sectors - valued at £15.3 billion, up from £11.5 billion in 2021.
New data indicates that the region is reported to now have over 144,000 people employed in around 2,300 tech start ups and scaleups across the West Midlands, with over 56,000 in Birmingham alone.
Digital Minister Damian Collins said: “Artificial Intelligence has immense power to boost economic growth and improve people’s lives.
"We want to see the whole country benefit from the revolutionary technology and these extremely talented graduates, who have successfully completed our government-funded courses, can play a central role putting the UK at the forefront of this exciting field."
As well, the visit took place in Birmingham's very own Tech Week.
Professor Julian Beer said: “We are delighted to see expertise from our School of Computing and Digital Technology and STEAMhouse collaborating with industry, and to be able to showcase the impactful project work of our staff and scholarship students from our AI MSc course funded by OfS to the Minister and colleagues today.
“As the minister commented, we are a leading example of how bringing together startups, corporate, civic society, and academics results in real world impact.
“Today’s new government shows, the Midlands is now a leading player in global tech and digital innovation, with Birmingham City University firmly at the heart of it - educating and training the workforce of the future and transforming lives in the process.”