VC’s corner
campusreview.com.au
As CEO of RMIT Online, one of my
responsibilities is to seek out industry
partners who can help us prepare our
students for the future. I also look at
how we can create flexible, targeted and
industry-focused learning options today. It’s
about balancing pace with a sharp eye for
what’s next.
By doing this, we help open more doors
for students and enable them to step out of
RMIT into real jobs where these skills are in
high demand.
In a world where change is constant,
lifelong learning is a new reality. We now
have so much freedom to design the way
we want to work and live, that providing
new options for students to gain new skills
or top up outdated skills is increasingly
important.
Many people are looking for targeted,
industry-focused learning that can
be immediately applied back in their
workplace. It’s not always about getting a
master’s degree; sometimes it’s just about
sharpening a skill that an employee wants
to apply next month or needs to take the
next step in their career.
You don’t have to look far to find alarming
statistics about some of the current skills
shortages in Australia.
A recent study from the Australian
Industry Group found that 75 per cent of
organisations in Australia reported skills
shortages when recruiting for jobs related
to automation, big data and artificial
intelligence (AI) in particular.
I often explain to students that it’s inside
this skills gap that enormous opportunity
lies waiting.
For example, the business value-add of
blockchain is expected to grow to around
US$176 billion ($244 billion) by 2025,
according to Gartner, showcasing how
quickly this technology has moved from its
research and development phase to real-
world market applications.
Similarly, global augmented reality (AR)
spending is expected to hit US$60 billion
($83 billion) in 2020, while global
autonomous vehicle market revenue is
expected to grow at a rate of 39.6 per cent
over 10 years to US$127 billion ($176 billion)
by 2027.
With these projections in mind, and
acknowledging that disruptive changes
to business models will continue to have
a profound impact on the employment
landscape, what tomorrow’s employees
need to future-proof their careers is
co-created, industry-endorsed courses
that address skills gaps among executives,
professionals and developers.
PARTNERS WITH DISRUPTIVE
INDUSTRY LEADERS
In the past 12 months alone, RMIT has
announced industry partnerships with
Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Amazon Web
Services, Udacity, Credly and Accenture,
as well as new learning pathways
with the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT).
The partnerships we have forged with
highly regarded industry leaders cover
a breadth of in-demand future skills,
from app development, AI and digital
assistants, to robotics, self-driving cars and
blockchain, many with a microcredential
attached.
Even where there is motivation to upskill
employees and future-proof the business,
many workplaces still struggle to find the
resources or access the necessary training
and education to do so.
As an example, Accenture identified the
need to train staff in blockchain technology,
but local resources simply didn’t exist to
close this skills gap. As a result, RMIT and
Accenture collaborated to create Australia’s
first dedicated blockchain short course –
and it sold out within 48 hours.
RMIT continues to lead the way as
an authority on blockchain through
online and face-to-face learning options,
available alongside the highly regarded
Blockchain Innovation Hub led by
Professor Jason Potts.
Through partnerships with disruptive
industry leaders, we’ve demonstrated our
commitment to deliver what our students
need today and what we project they will
need tomorrow.
These relationships also provide us
with extraordinary insight and readiness
to design the ‘what’s next’ ahead of the
pack. In many ways, that’s our promise as a
university, and we take it seriously.
Alongside industry-specific skills, ‘soft’
or transferrable skills are also in high
demand, with Deloitte highlighting that
75 per cent of future jobs will require
these so-called soft skills, like digital
literacy, teamwork and the ability to think
creatively.
But while there’s an onus on the individual
to upskill, we believe that employers also
have an opportunity to recognise the power
of soft skills – personally, I’d call them
strong skills – and prioritise helping their
employees to achieve them.
It’s increasingly becoming a differentiator
of success, with many of our partners
honing their focus on upskilling employees
in this area.
Deep connection with industry is part of
RMIT’s DNA. Since we opened our doors
131 years ago, our point of difference has
been a relentless focus on practical learning
that readies our students for life and work in
the real world.
What we’ve embarked on at RMIT is
incredibly exciting, and I’m a passionate
believer that it’s our combination
of traditional and new ways of
educating that continues to make us
so relevant.
In a world full of unknowns and
disruption, I know one thing for certain:
there’s no disputing the evidence that we
should all be future-proofing our careers.
And that’s exactly what energises my focus
every single day. ■
Helen Souness is the CEO of RMIT Online.
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