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SOUTH EAST'S ELECTRONICS
BUSINESSES NEED TO RAISE SKILL LEVELS TO COMPETE GLOBALLY
It is critical that our electronics firms keep their skills base
"pumped up" with the right levels of people so that the global
industry can tap into our expertise. This was the message from
the Chairman of the Pacific Rim Electronics Business Association
(PREBA), Keith Etherington, at a recent briefing held jointly
with the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA).
Specialist
electronic components manufacturers from across the South East
of England attended the recent event to learn how they can tap
into the giant Pacific Rim electronics industry. Keith Etherington
pointed out: "Our electronics firms need to respond to competition
and opportunities in the Pacific Rim. The UK's electronics suppliers
cannot compete with low cost-base countries to produce components
or services by standard methods. We need to innovate to create
unique, high value components in the UK. We have to continue to
improve skill levels and tap into the know-how and creativeness
of our people."
The electronics,
electrical and telecommunications sectors account for almost 100,000
jobs in the South East of England and there is potential for growth.
Senior Learning and Skills Manager for SEEDA, Gilly Bartrip, emphasized:
"We need to invest in human capital in order to take maximum advantage
of the growth in new technology industries in the South East.
In high-tech industries such as electronics, skills and knowledge
are the single most important source of competitive advantage."
SEEDA's skills strategy, which underpins the Regional Economic
Strategy, is tackling some of these issues by funding skills projects
which have a real impact upon the high-tech sector. Once such
project in which SEEDA has invested nearly £750,000 is being run
by Oxford Innovation Ltd, who are developing a wide range of technical
training programmes for workers in the fast expanding field of
opto-electronics. The project aims to support the application
of scientific excellence in the South East to the marketplace
and to meet the present and future skills needs of the opto-electronics
industry.
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