No-one can accurately predict how the future of work will look but most commentators agree that it won’t be much like it is today. “Traditional” career paths will decline. AI (Artificial Intelligence) will replace some jobs but create new ones for those willing to learn and adapt. It will depend profoundly on cyber security and require skills such as problem solving, communication, flexibility and teamwork that go well beyond the current school curriculum.
Recognising the need for more direct experience and the range of skills that will be required, local cyber security firm Red Maple, Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce and Cynam organised a cyber “boot-camp” that ran from 19th August – 23rd August at the Advanced Digital Academy (ADA) at Gloucestershire College in Cheltenham.
Golden Valley kindly sponsored the event and twenty Sixth Formers from a range of schools were put into four teams and tasked with tackling real life business problems using AI. These included creating an e-commerce website for a local sustainable food brand, creating a new interactive University and College course directory and presenting real time data on local food poverty.
They got to meet and discuss their projects with those who had set the tasks and discuss career thoughts with local business experts across the week.
The former were openly amazed at the outcomes which went far beyond expectations. They were hugely grateful that the teams had worked so hard and attentively on making the project briefs come to life.
Lindsey Holland, Projects Executive at Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce, was enthused about this innovative connection between businesses and education, “This is exactly what the students are after and what we as a business community need to be doing. Schools can’t keep up with the changes happening in business and we need our business communities to support the next generation by working on events just like this one”.
More importantly the impact on the students was profound. As one of them posted on LinkedIn, “Just wrapped up an amazing few days diving deep into the world of cybersecurity, and wow—what an experience! This bootcamp was packed with hands-on learning, mind-bending challenges, and a whole lot of “aha!” moments. Every day was an adventure.”
Course convenor, Rob Stemp, a Founder of Cynam and Founder Director of Red Maple and Deep Minds said, “To say we have been blown away by the output and impact of the teams is an understatement. Each team was given a project on Monday afternoon, by Friday we have 4 websites, all used AI to generate them. Talent plus AI equals awesome impact!”
This group represent the first cohort of future boot camps which will continue this great work as CHELT.TECH.
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