Atos and techUK join forces to support the Levelling Up agenda across UK

London – 21 September, 2022

Atos UK and Ireland and techUK have announced a new partnership to build networks of local private and public sector organisations in order to help identify opportunities for supporting the growth of local digital skills across the UK.

With tech skills and jobs crucial to improving productivity, pay and employment in every corner of the country, Atos UK & Ireland launched Innovating Up earlier this year to unlock support from the Levelling Up agenda. With techUK’s latest Local Digital Capital Index to be released shortly, the partnership will seek to bring together the public and private sector to develop place-based solutions to the challenges identified in the Index.

As the digital transformation partner to public and private sector organisations across the country as well as worldwide, Atos UK and Ireland is ideally placed to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to identify how areas can maximise digital skills and jobs. The Innovating Up project will lead a collaborative approach to transforming local economies and delivering on the Levelling Up agenda.

Under the new partnership, Atos will take the findings of techUK’s Local Digital Capital Index, a valuable tool helping decision makers to design and build local digital ecosystems, to work with businesses, business groups and political leaders to identify the specific needs of local economies. The project will also explore how to unlock levelling-up funding for technology-based solutions which, combined with digitally enabled agile working normalized by the pandemic, can help create sustainable, digital jobs of the future.

Kulveer Ranger, SVP Head of Strategy, Marketing, Communications & Public Affairs – Northern Europe & APAC at Atos, techUK Board Member, said: “Against the backdrop of a cost of living crisis it is more important than ever that local communities can harness the potential of a growing digital industry to ensure their future prosperity. Using our experience at developing innovation and skills, we aim to work with other industry partners and third sector organisations to help develop local, place based digital skills pipelines. We call this ‘Innovating Up’.”

“The Local Digital Capital Index is an important tool to help communities identify their potential, and Atos will be working with techUK to put digital and the findings of the Local Digital Capital Index at the heart of efforts to increase skills, employment and productivity.”

Julian David, CEO, techUK, said: “The techUK Local Digital Capital Index is designed to help communities and policymakers around the UK measure the level of their local digital capability and identify clear and impactful ways that digital technology can help businesses and the local economy grow and thrive.

“Atos is a global leader in innovation and we are excited to be working with them to help businesses interpret and implement this information at a local level. We believe this partnership can make a meaningful contribution to levelling up across the country.”

Commenting on the announcement, Andy Charles, Blackpool Pride of Place Partnership Director, said:

“We have been working with Atos and other businesses in Blackpool to develop and implement our vision since 2021. The results have shown the power of collaboration between businesses in a local area and the difference partnerships can make to digital economies in towns and cities.

As we have gone a long way to prove in Blackpool, bringing together business groups, the community, employers and local decision makers can drive change and bring high quality jobs and skills to local areas, so I welcome this new announcement.”

Atos will be bringing together business representatives, employers and political representatives to examine the findings of the techUK Local Digital Capital Index and discuss how digital technology can be used to increase skills, employment and productivity at a local level.

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Press contact: Collins nick.collins@mhpc.com +44 (0)20 3128 8897

Atos contact: Sebastian Hanley Sebastian.hanley@atos.net +44 (0)7814 640433, Ed Thomas Edward.thomas@atos.net