OEB 2015 - Plenary Debate

(0:56 people's noises)

(check who) 1.17 We've got one hour
and a quarter.

(confused voices then 1:31) How do we know
when these things are going to be turned on?

(confused voices, then1:58) What? OK?
Right.

(Chairperson 2:03) Ladies and Genltemen,
can I ask everyone

to take their seats, please?

We're about to begin,
so if you're visiting the bar,

can you charge your glasses and return
to your seats, and then we'll begin.

We've got an hour and a quarter
for this debate.

OK, can I -- Welcome everybody to
the Online Educa OEB debate.

I'm not sure what number this is
in the series of debates that we've had,

I think it may be getting up to our 10th.

What I can tell you is that in the time
that we've been having these debates

and that I've been chairing them,
my eyesight has now gone so bad

that I can't possibly read any notes
that I have without using glasses, so

I think we must be on at least our 10th.

What I can also tell you is that
Online Educa itself, OEB,

this year is celebrating
its 21st anniversary.

So I think that perhaps deserves
a round of applause.

So happy birthday to Online Educa --
(Applause) -- this fantastic conference.

And 21 years ago was a very difficult --
very different world indeed,

when one thinks about the scale and scope
of change that there --

that has taken place in the last 21 years.

One statistic I was reading recently was
that in the UK, in 1994, 21 years ago,

there were only 67 mobile phones
per 1000 people.

But only ten years later, in 2004,

there were more mobiles in the UK
than people.

And that pattern of spread
of mobile communications alone

has spread across the world and
in Africa, for instance,

those of you who have been to
Elearning Africa will have learned about

the spread of mobile communications
across the African continent.

So in terms of the scale
of technological change,

and the spread of that change
across the world,

the change in that short period of time,
in these past 21 years alone,

has been enormous, and we heard about

the scale of it in the opening
plenary session this morning.

We live in a world that is globalized,
interconnected, hyperlinked

and that scale of change we're
experiencing, have experienced

in the last 21 years, is going to
gather pace and continue.

And all that is going to create a huge
challenge for education and training,

which is going to be at the heart

of dealing with both the positive and
negative aspects of that change.

And that's why the motion that we're
dealing with today, in this debate,

is so important, and why the whole subject
of giving young people the skills

that they need to cope with
the challenges of this new world

that we all are going to --
that we are creating, is so important.

We've got four speakers,
four panel speakers

to open the debate this evening

and I'm going to ask each of them
to speak for 10 minutes,

and then I'm going to --

-- two of them will speak for the motion,
obviously,and two against --

then I will throw open the debate
to all of you,

but if you want to intervene
whilst they are speaking, because

we're having a parliamentary-style
debate,

then you can try to intervene on them

and if they want to take
your intervention,

then they can do so, but it will be
entirely up to you.

And if they don't, then you can draw
whatever conclusions you want from that.

But I want to ensure that
we keep the flow going,

so I'm not going to let you bully them
but I'm going to allow you,

if you want to make a particular point,

or if you want to make
a short intervention, to do so.

Then after they've spoken, we'll
throw open the debate to the floor

and you can make your contribution,

but do please realize that time
is of the essence,

so please try to keep it short and
to the point, succinct.

This is the kind of debate equivalent
of texting.

So, no long rambling contributions,
because I will cut you off

if you try to do that.

So, very short contributions, please.

And then I'll ask each of our --
I'll ask one speaker from each side

to sum up, and then we will take a vote,
and we'll do that by a show of hands.

And I've also made it clear
to all the speakers that they may

say things that they don't necessarily
want to be held to in the future,

so I hope that you will understand that.

But this is an opportunity for us
to explore some of the issues,

but don't take it all too seriously,

and don't come and accuse people of saying
things that you would --

that they might not necessarily always
want to be held to.

With that in mind, I'm going to ask
our first speaker, who is Jo Swinson.

Jo Swinson, who is the former Minister
for business, innovation and skills

in the UK's coalition government of
2010 to 2015,

to speak first for the motion.

And Jo, since leaving Parliament,
has begun a new career

and is involved in an award within
a data intelligence company

called Clear Returns

and she is an expert on the challenges
and opportunities of the digital age.

So, over to you, Jo.

(Jo Swinson) Thank you very much indeed,
Harold.

And I'm absolutely delighted to be here
in Berlin at OEB.

A bit of a first, actually, the first
technology-related conference

that I've been to where there is a queue
in the ladies' loos!

I have to say I was particularly pleased
by that, not only as a feminist,

but also as a Brit who appreciates
the art of queuing.

So it was good on two fronts.

So, this house believes that
21st century skills aren't being taught,

and they should be, is the motion
that I want to convince you

to support this evening.

We absolutely need to be equipping
our young people,

and indeed, people at every stage
of their lives,

with the skills that they need
for the 21st century.

And our education systems,
and our wider society,

have an important role to play in this.

But I will put it to you, this evening,
that when it comes to technical skills,

when it comes to social skills,
and vitally,

when it comes to capacity
to embrace change,

we are not yet rising to that challenge
sufficiently.

There are very specific skills,
there are gaps in science and technology

that are not being properly filled. 9:32

These shortages are causing
significant problems

for businesses, for employers.

Half of engineering companies say that
they have delayed taking forward

new products or services, because
they have vacancies

that are so hard to fill, because
the skills are not there to recruit.

Digital start-ups are often in real need
of software developers

that they cannot find sufficiently.

And companies of all sizes, grappling with
cybersecurity challenges

struggle to have the skills that they need
to take on those important issues.

As Harold mentioned, I'm now a director
of a company called Clear Returns.

It's been going for about three years,
based in Glasgow, and uses data analytics

to help retailers understand the problems
they have with product returns

and therefore successfully cutting
the costs for retailers,

and resulting in better
customer satisfaction. 10:33