This document discusses the convergence of digital, information and communications technology, and creative industries (CDIT) and the need for "fused graduates" with interdisciplinary skills to work in this converged industry. It notes that CDIT contributes significantly to the UK economy and is a strategic priority. Universities must develop interdisciplinary programs and partner with businesses to ensure graduates have the necessary skills for a changing industry, including the ability to learn continuously. Initiatives like Brighton Fuse aim to enhance creativity and innovation through connections between higher education and CDIT businesses in the local area.

1. The Fused Graduate for a Fused
Industry
David Docherty
Chief Executive, CIHE
Creative Industries & Vibrant Regions 30/11/12

2. The Thick of It
•We are at the beginning of a revolution in
communications, digital and IT (CDIT).
•We are at the beginning of a mass higher education
system funded primarily in England by graduates.
•We are in the middle of a new engagement
between business and HE.
•We may be in the thick of it, but there‟s a long way
to go, a lot to learn and fresh thinking required

3. The Shock of the New
From employees to leaders:
‘Traditional methods of leadership no longer work‟
Jeremy Darroch, CEO, SKY
From skills to expertise:
“One of the most crucial roles for universities is to enable
graduates to learn how to learn. The majority of technical
skills will be defunct by the time young people are into their
careers.”
Gavin Patterson, CEO BT Retail, Director BT Group

4. The Shock of the New (2)
From discipline to interdiscipline:
„The era where we can afford multidisciplinary groups is becoming
unaffordable. We need universities to develop graduates with
interdisciplinary skills, or who can lead interdisciplinary teams.‟
Anne Morrison, Director of the BBC Academy
From local to global:
„I think we‟re starting to see a particular generation where they think
of themselves as quite literally world citizens. I don‟t mean
conceptually. I mean they see the world as boundary less: that they
are able to move, shift, work anywhere, and do anything.”
(HR Director, Prudential)

5. Tomorrow‟s World Today
„Digital, ICT and creative industries together should be the
horizontal platform for growth and competitiveness for the UK in
the 21st Century.‟
Dr Mike Short, Vice President Research and Development at O2.

6. Tomorrow‟s People

8. Between the Lines
•A skill is a repeatable process in a predictable
environment. It can be taught through continuous practice.
•Expertise is the application of theory to practice. It can be
taught through continuous exploration and reflection.
•Expert businesses will be the most successful in a
knowledge-based economy.

9. Your Life in Their Hands

10. Your Life in Their Hands

11. What are businesses doing
with their talent?
International Graduate Development Programme (IGDP) at BG Group
• Structured two year programme to give young professionals management skills
and hands on experience in different locations
• Candidates do at least one international assignment and also will work in one of
BG‟s many international locations on completion
• “It’s a truly multi-cultural company – there are people from all around the world
here and there’s a great interaction between them. You can see there are people
from everywhere – Oman, Egypt, the UK, Kazakhstan – and it’s good to have
several nationalities in the same team”

12. Membership – Media and Technology
• Chief Executive, BT Retail
• Chief Executive, Channel 4
• Director General, BBC
• Director and Chief Executive, BSkyB
• Chief Executive, FT Group
• Group Chief Executive, WPP
• Chief Executive, Cisco
• Vice President of Global Education, Cisco

13. CDIT A New Acronym for a
Converged Age
“Digital, ICT and creative industries together should be the horizontal
platform for growth and competitiveness for the UK in the 21st Century”
Dr Mike Short, Vice President Research and Development, O2
• The technology and content industries contribute £102billion in gross value
added to the economy (12% of GVA) and are set for above average growth
• UK entertainment and media revenues, are set to reach £56billion by 2014
(3.7% compound growth rate) and software will grow at 3.4% a year
• Global entertainment and media revenues are forecast to grow to $1.7 trillion
by 2014, while the worldwide IT industry is now worth $3 trillion (services
alone totalled $763 billion in 2009).
• Exports from the UK‟s CDIT businesses exceeded £18billion in 2009

14. CDIT A New Educational
Experience for a Converged Age
“The era where we can afford multidisciplinary groups is becoming
unaffordable. We need universities to develop graduates with interdisciplinary
skills, or who can lead interdisciplinary teams.”
Anne Morrison, Director, BBC Academy
“Producers, Engineers and Technologists will increasingly converge into
teams working together to deliver interface, service and content – as one
product – rather than different teams working in isolation and then hoping to
tie the solution together.”
Experts from BBC Future Media & Technology department

15. CDIT A New Educational
Experience for a Converged Age
“The IT sector is characterised by rapidly changing skills requirements.
Particular technologies may well be defunct within a relatively short period of
time. HE‟s focus should be on developing young people with the ability to
rapidly assimilate knowledge and develop competence on what will be an
ever changing suite of technologies that they will encounter during their
careers.”
Dr Geoff Scott, Senior Scientist, BT
“We need to teach people better in schools, especially computer sciences
and maths, and balance that with teaching art. We need people who are
learning arts and sciences together. The university faculty system we have is
outmoded; separating arts and science is a 19th century construct.”
CDIT Executive

16. CDIT Task Force
• Government should acknowledge CDIT
as a strategic priority alongside
STEM
• Government should facilitate the right
environment for successful CDIT
ecosystems
• Government should review
procurement policies and R&D Tax
credits
• ICT curriculum in schools needs to
overhauled

17. CDIT Task Force
• Funding Councils should give equal
weight to CDIT programmes as to STEM
programmes
• Interdisciplinary is key to success of
CDIT
• Universities must work better with SME
CDIT businesses
• Business must contribute to
development of courses for graduates
they hire
• Business- HE partnerships should be at
the heart of Local Enterprise
Partnerships

18. Brighton Fuse
www.brightonfuse.com

19. Brighton Fuse
• Connecting the arts, humanities and design with digital and ICT
to enhance creativity and innovation
• Measuring and assisting Brighton‟s creative, digital and IT
(CDIT) cluster
• Supporting mutually beneficial connections between higher
education, those engaged in the creation of arts and culture and
Brighton‟s digital technology sector

20. What is it about Brighton that strengthens its
businesses? 0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00%
Content
Access to skilled labour (including
freelancers)
Ability to attract talented employees to
Creative Services Brighton & Hove
Access to collaborators
Proximity to London
Consultancy
Brighton & Hove's cultural life
Brighton & Hove's reputation
Digital Media
That Brighton is not London
ICT
% of all in the sector mentioning the factor as significant or very significant advantage of being based in Brighton

22. © Lancaster University 2012

23. Future of Innovation in Television
Technology Taskforce
• High Performance Computing
• Future Network
• Distribution & Delivery
• Innovation Strategy
• Research & Development

24. The role of universities in
CDIT
“Things have changed in recent years, in the last decade, with universities
and research. I think awareness has grown within universities that there is
interest in using knowledge that might be available to be developed
specifically for industry.”
CDIT Executive
“Most companies have to be outwardly focused in the digital world. We are
certainly outwardly focused in terms of our customers, and our customers
routinely ask us, “Can you do this? Can you do that?” In some cases we can
do it with internal resources, in some cases we need some external resource
to help, and the universities are often a valuable source in that area.”
CDIT Executive

25. The role of universities in
CDIT
“One of the things that characterises the UK creative industries is agency
model businesses where work is done on a work-for-hire basis and
production is generally at the mercy of large organisations or companies who
dictate terms, and generally those are buy-out terms.”
CDIT Executive
“We do not do much work with universities because for the type of work we
are doing university research tends to be rather a long way out there
compared to what we are interested in.”
CDIT Executive

26. The Bottom Line
„The most important contribution Stanford makes to Silicon Valley is to
replenish the intellectual pool every year with new graduate students.‟
Gordon Moore, Co-Founder of Intel

27. www.cihe.co.uk
@theCIHE
@DavidDocherty1
www.cihe.co.uk/linkedin