Hackney Council is working with the Education Foundation think thank to launch a digital skills hub that seeks to create links between the edtech sector and job seekers in the borough.
“Tech City’s growth and investment has been significant but its vital that local communities see the benefit in jobs and improving digital skills in young people. Edtech is the only ‘tech cluster’ with a direct link to improving London’s schools and education institutions and its vital that support is developed for this rapidly growing sector,”
said Ian Fordham co-founder of The Education Foundation.
Hackney has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in the UK but London is now home to some 60 edtech businesses, including Decoded, Kano and Gojimo. This initiative mirrors edtech efforts being made in Boston, New York, Toronto and Tel Aviv, and the goal is to create a more formal edtech cluster in the city.
The scheme will be based at Pitfield Street’s Opportunity Hub, right in the heart of Hackney, and local people will be able to access skills sessions, events and mentoring opportunities. The centre will also run a ‘Tech City teachers’ programme to twin edtech firms with Hackney schools, while also introducing entrepreneurs to schools to help them develop new educational products.
The pair is planning to launch another ‘major Education Foundation-run Edtech Hub’ in Hackney this Autumn.