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Computer Weekly: Cognizant’s ‎Head of Consulting in the UK Talks About the Role of Maker Faires in Boosting STEM Skills

“Tomorrow’s STEM jobs will place increased demands on the development of new STEM competencies,” says Phil Dunmore. “We no longer live in an Industrial Economy—we are firmly implanted in the Knowledge Economy, or what some call the era of digital business, in which we compete on code.” Excerpts:

“New technologies are revolutionizing the future of work created by global and virtual environments made up of millennial workers and consumers. Technical skills are not relevant forever, but transforming an individual into a life-long learner is enduring. Making the Future emphasizes the process or the “doing” of the project, encouraging collaboration, interdisciplinary problem-solving, risk-taking and the intrinsic motivation. These qualities will be at the core of the change-makers of tomorrow.

Over the last few years there has been a lot of interest in Maker Faires in the U.S. and the Maker Movement. Many have heralded the Maker Movement as bringing about the third industrial revolution by creating a community of entrepreneurs who, in general, are highly skilled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). These communities act like multi-generational incubators of creativity and innovation. The direct result of this is that the next generation of budding Makers is focusing on boosting their STEM skills in order to be involved, and succeed in, this movement.

Companies in all industries are looking for innovators—not just inventors. At the same time, much attention is focused on the innovation deficit in the U.K. and lack of proficiency in STEM disciplines and how to address the shortfall. How can we harness the Maker Movement to inspire the next generation of innovators here in the UK?

Cognizant’s view is that creativity and innovation coupled with STEM are essential to producing the products and services we will need in the future. For this reason, we need to focus on both STEM and the arts—sometimes referred to as ‘STEAM’. And moving beyond competitiveness, we believe that education, and particularly STEM education, is the fundamental sustainability issue of our time, since the solutions to poverty, global health issues and climate change will require a highly educated and STEM-literate population.”

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