Welcome to our final newsletter of 2020!

Welcome to our final newsletter of 2020

What a year it has been!

Despite the challenges, there have been so many positive developments and this newsletter aims to highlight these, the achievements of graduates, past and present, and provide an insight into the “behind the scenes” work of the Programme team, who are dedicated to ensuring a successful experience and outcome for all involved.

Firstly, congratulations to our Data Science pilot programme graduates who achieved outstanding results in their Masters qualification, undertaking impactful final research projects and realised their ambitions in becoming data science professionals within the consortium. A special thanks to Penny Holborn and the team at USW for their excellent support and tuition in enabling the graduate’s success.

Also, a shout out to Joseph Davies, who has achieved the highest MSc grades to date, and to Veronica Horgan, who won the Graduate of the Year at the WCCF Awards.

A huge well done to our Financial Services graduates have demonstrated amazing resilience in making the best of their placements whilst working remotely, and continuing to study their Masters qualification. We wish them every success in their final rotation starting in January and will be working closely with each graduate to help them into permanent roles over the next 8 months.

Given the acceleration in business transformation and in response to our employer’s increasing requirement for data and AI skills, we responded agilely to create a new and innovative 8-month Programme which aims to fast-track STEM graduates in data-AI skills.

The Programme team, data managers from across the consortium and University of South Wales course leaders, have invested considerable time and effort to develop this new concept, which has resulted in the recruitment of 14 talented graduates. A warm welcome to all and to three new employers – sa.global, Indigo Telecom and Skillcert who are joining the consortium.

Last but not least, we would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to colleagues at the Welsh European Funding Office, for their flexibility in helping us to adjust our programme delivery to adapt to the challenges of 2020.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter and are excited to work with you in 2021 to continue building a high calibre talent pool to support our businesses and provide further opportunities for young graduates, which is increasingly important in this challenging economic climate.

Wishing you a safe and very Merry Christmas!

Rowena.