Reins of Change
How Might We . . . Race for the NeXT Gen OT Talent
Operational Technology is a key part of any modern water organisation, with greater focus than ever on data, information technology, visualisation and gamification. But how do we attract the next generation of Operational Technology Talent?
Operational Technology (OT) is largely invisible compared to roles in IT, Cyber, AI or Software with limited formal route from higher education as a career path.
OT may be seen as lacking the ‘cool factor’ and is rarely seen as future focused or creative due to its dependence on legacy systems and solutions. However, the skills are truly overlapping across the four disciplines (IT, AI, Cyber and OT). We need to determine how to market OT as a career path within schools, universities, and people in other fields.
OT has a value problem, not a value shortage it offers purpose, impact, and cutting-edge technology, but we need to better at story telling by those who work in this space, provide clear pathways, and debunk outdated perceptions.
Participants will collaborate through a mix of creative workshop activities, structured exploration sessions and real-world case presentations and discussions to;
- Identify priority areas of focus within OT discipline
- Co-create ideas
- Discuss and vote on the strongest idea to take forward and develop into a solution
- Build a prototype that will be tested at the festival on an end user / customer / stakeholder
This daily dash will aim to:
- To build a shared understanding of problems faced by UK water companies in relation to attracting the right talent to work in the operational technology space within Water.
- To provide marketing materials that can be used to highlight the role of OT. Including personas of those that work in this space
- To look at the educational barrier to attracting new talent (apprentices and graduates)
- To provide a charter that OT Managers can agree to support to drive growth in this space
Operational Technology, Suppliers, Procurement, Recruitment, Other Industries
Any questions: contact: David McDermott: david.mcdermott@nwl.co.uk - or - Wez Little: wez.little@se.com