More reliant on data than ever, Scottish businesses can now access a course aimed at upskilling leaders to use data more effectively. 

The Data Leaders Programme, piloted by The Data Lab, hopes to address the glaring gap in digital skills seen across UK businesses. 

A recent study found that though 80% of UK businesses use digital data, about a third of employees do not feel capable of using or interpreting data. 

Business leaders’ digital skills are also lacking, as the same study found half of them to not feel equipped with handling or analysing data. 

The programme aims to build a community of business leaders in Scotland fully equipped with the skills and knowledge to harness data to drive Scotland’s economic success.

Heather Thomson, Head of Skills at The Data Lab said: “Launching the Data Leaders course comes at a time when those running organisations of all sizes and sectors are focused on upskilling to support growth.”

The digital skills gap is likely hindering this growth, and is costing the UK over £12 billion.

Additionally, another study found that over 50% of employees have had no data training from their employers, and that this could severely impact job progression and business growth. 

The Data Lab hopes this programme – which was piloted in 2021 – will address these issues, allowing business to use data to gain valuable insights and harness growth opportunities. 

Jamie Boyd, Growth Programme Manager of Social Bite said: “The course was essential for me to expand my knowledge and vocabulary, gain the confidence to assess projects, and develop a strong data strategy for Social Bite to facilitate future growth.”

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The Data Lab capitalised on a rise in demand for digital skills, and hopes to welcome more entrepreneurs who are interested in developing their leadership skills to implement a data strategy. 

Non-technically inclined business leaders need not be intimated as, in Boyd’s words, “the programme showed me that analysing data doesn’t need to be done by a data scientist – it can be incorporated successfully into any role.”

The course’s official launch coincides with the Data Summit also run by data lab, and will be open to leaders in all sectors. Applications are open until the 30th of November and the course runs in February of this coming year. 

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