Scottish Government and Lantra sponsor CivTech Challenge

The Scottish Government and Lantra Scotland are looking for tech companies to support their efforts to recover and rebuild the nation, by taking part in a CivTech Programme challenge.

CivTech work with Public Sector Organisations to solve their problems in collaboration with innovative businesses, by issuing a series of 'challenges' which businesses can apply for. Sponsored by the Scottish Government and Lantra Scotland, one of CivTech's challenges this year is a call for tech companies to help them build a training portal for people wanting careers in rural Scotland, ranging from forestry to conservation. 

The rural and remote areas of Scotland face significant challenges in retaining and developing the skills required for robust and resilient economies.

Challenges arising from geography and connectivity can make it hard enough to find appropriate mainstream learning opportunities. It is even harder to uncover training that whilst perhaps not certificated by an academic institution nevertheless offers exactly the right content.

To tackle this issue, applicants to this CivTech challenge are being asked to use technology to help develop a skills sharing system that encourages people to engage, and those with expertise to share their skills in rural and remote locations.

Challenge sponsor Lantra Scotland works with many other organisations in the skills arena, who are all trying to make sure the sector has the right people in the right roles, with the training they need in order to contribute to the economy by doing their work effectively and safely.

Liz Barron-Majerik, Lantra Scotland Director, explains: “As a sponsor for a CivTech Scotland challenge, we’re really excited about being involved in finding a solution for this issue. We’re looking forward to seeing the proposals that the challenge produces, as the right answer could be a real game changer for rural communities and skills development.”

Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy, Fergus Ewing, added 'The Civtech Challenge will be a game-changer for everyone who wants to learn new skills, improve their job opporunities or change career'. 

A live Q&A session will be held with the Challenge Sponsor team at 3:00pm on Wednesday 22 July 2020, giving you an opportunity to clarify any aspect of the Challenge. You can register for the session here.

You can also find out more about this challenge by watching the short video below.