We are delighted to announce the launch of the Scottish  Academy. The
Academy aims to boost the skills of the country’s e-workers and position Scotland as a globally attractive location for ICT businesses.
The new  Academy will enable Scottish businesses to access the very latest in ICT technology and training that helps companies to manage change. It will also equip participants with the skills needed to succeed in the e-business climate.
The Scottish Academy is led by the Universities of Strathclyde and Paisley with the support of Scottish Enterprise, My Future's in Falkirk, learndirect Scotland, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the European Union under the Objective3 ESF programme.
The Academy is launched on the back of a government report by Gartner in partnership with UK. The report recommended steps to increase the effectiveness of e-business working in the UK.
The Academy addresses many key aims of the report. It is leading the way to provide Scotland’s business community with the skills development programmes needed to embrace change and maximise IT effectiveness to successfully compete in the business world.
Launching the Academy, Charlene O’Connor, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley, said: “Ensuring our workforce is equipped with the necessary skills not only to embrace but to trigger change technologies is vital for achieving business success.
“The Academy is a welcome step to ensuring that workers throughout Scotland can access innovative training to work competently in a fully e-enabled world. The links between the universities and industry is an important step forward in ensuring top level training is available to our most competitive areas of business and I am confident it will prove hugely popular with businesses.”
The Academy aims to widen job creation opportunities in business and e-technology sectors as well as position Scotland as centre of e-business excellence and a globally attractive location for ICT companies.
Speaking at the launch, Hugh Aitken, vice president of Worldwide Customer Fulfilment at Sun Microsystems, said: “Technology development is a constant and the ability for people to keep up with the learning process is absolutely critical to our success going forward. The Academy is an excellent idea and should be encouraged throughout Scotland."
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