The addition of the three new courses brings the total number to eleven, with a diverse range of subjects available, ranging from digital product development to social media management.
To date, more than 18,000 thousand people from across the UK have enrolled in Tech City UK’s flagship skills programme. Digital Business Academy is the world’s first government-backed online platform to give the whole UK population free access to digital business skills and opportunities.
Building on the expert course content that has been already provided from UCL and Cambridge Judge Business School, the new courses will be provided by current content provider, Founder Centric and Bristol-based content marketing specialist, Valuable Content.
The new courses combine best practice learning from the grassroots skills experts and include:
- How to Track Performance in Early-Stage Startups (by Founder Centric) will provide participants with the practical knowhow to identify the numbers that matter to businesses and how to start tracking them. Course participants will hear how other successful startups, such as Songkick and Pact Coffee, have utilised in depth tracking methods to increase their commercial performance.
- How to Manage Customers (By Founder Centric)will impart the required wisdom to manage all the various ways customers can interact with businesses. The content will cover some great tools entrepreneurs can make use of to fast-track customer service improvements, including Streak and Intercom.
- How to Use Social Media for Business(By Valuable Content) offers practical content that will teach participants how successful businesses use social media to generate leads, drive sales, deliver exceptional customer service and build loyalty. There will be real life case studies from established startups that have implemented successful strategies such as Beer Bods and Wriggle.
Tech City UK Chair, Eileen Burbidge, commented: “The next generation of digital talent is hungry for success, and programmes such as Digital Business Academy help individuals to unlock their potential. The existing courses and new content not only provide the latest skills in technology, they also give people across the UK the confidence and inspiration to get out there and make their ideas come to life.”
Tech City UK CEO, Gerard Grech, said: “With the digital technology sector set to grow by 5.5 per cent by 2020, Digital Business Academy’s enrolment of 18,500 in 10 months demonstrates the continued appetite to build businesses that power the UK digital economy.”
The Digital Business Academy already offers online business courses from UCL, Cambridge Judge Business School, Founder Centric and Valuable Content, and 49 industry partners including Microsoft Ventures, Ogilvy and the BBC.
It is a direct pipeline to opportunity with partners offering paid internships, mentorship, specialist content, as well as free startup support such as fast tracking to startup loans and free co-working space.
The increasing demand for digital skills is being driven by the growth of the UK’s tech sector. The recent findings from Tech City UK’s Tech Nation 2015 report found that digital employment is set to out perform all other job categories over the next five years. Of the digital companies analysed for the report, one third of respondents cited a lack of local talent as one of their biggest barriers to growth.
Digital employment is a national phenomenon with the report finding that 1.46 million people are employed by digital technology companies across the UK, with 74 per cent of digital jobs are based outside of London.
The new Digital Business Academy courses are available now for free.
