IT service provider Agilisys is offering an opportunity to work in data within public services with a new Data Academy.
The Agilisys Data Academy is a three-year programme for data analysts and data engineers interested in transforming the public sector with the company’s Data & Insight Practice. The organisation is currently looking for aspiring data analysts and data engineers to start in April 2022.
Members of the programme will have more than 100 days of industry-recognised training and certification opportunities with Microsoft and AWS, alongside live project work with clients in local and central government, healthcare, and policing.
Agilisys says it has long recognised the digital skills shortage, which has been exacerbated by Brexit, Covid, and a huge increase in demand. It believes the answer is to “stop relying on external talent and shine a light on growing our own.”
In 2018 it launched the Agilisys Cloud Development Programme, which has been rebadged as the Agilisys Cloud Academy. It spawned the Agilisys Data Academy, launched in January, and will be followed a few weeks later by the Agilisys CXM Academy.
What is the Agilisys Data Academy?
When the first Data Academy cohort starts early in April 2022, they will commence a three-year course aimed at growing their understanding of data, developing relevant skills, and attaining relevant certifications. In the first year, two months out of 12 will be dedicated to training, while the rest of the time will be spent on client projects, gaining experience, and learning from the ‘masters’ (their data and insight colleagues).
The Agilisys Data Academy is led by Olly Lee, who brings with him experience of running training services for the Civil Service while at KPMG. Initially, the Data Academy will work with two partners: Firebrand Training and QA. Both are executing on the Department for Education-funded Digital Skills Bootcamp programme. The bootcamps will offer 8-12 weeks of accelerated training (a primer course), offering candidates an opportunity to hit the ground running on entry to the Agilisys Data Academy.
The firm says it is also keen to promote alternative entry routes – in support of social mobility – particularly for those who can’t attend a bootcamp of several weeks without any earnings. In addition, Agilisys will start a parallel recruitment campaign to attract internal (i.e., those with heritage tech skills who want to retrain) as well as external candidates.
‘More than just a job’
“Our core offering is to ensure that the proposition is ‘more than just a job’,” says the company. “Prospective candidates must see a clear – and exciting career – path. We are also keen to ensure people understand the positive societal impact that they can have by working on Agilisys contracts. A good example is our Data & Insights work with the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, where we are delivering an innovative informatics environment, enabling radical new approaches to cancer research.”
Agilisys hopes to attract a cohort of between 15 and 20 people in April, with a second cohort in six months-time.
“These numbers highlight the rate at which we are looking to expand our Data & Insight team to meet demand – the team currently consists of just 30 people,” it says.
“Finally, the ambition as the programme progresses is to be able to offer clients places on the programme; clients’ employees (e.g., local authority staff) can retrain/reskill and then return to their employer. Being able to upskill clients in ‘data & analytics’ is core to our ‘social value’ bow – an additional benefit to being able to build our own workforce resilience.”