Creative, Digital and Information Technology Industries Task Force

The Creative, Digital and Information Technology (CDIT) industries Task Force was launched by CIHE to focus on the ways in which universities and businesses can better collaborate. Leading business and higher education executives joined the Task Force to help resolve some of the most intractable challenges we face within the digital, creative and IT economies.

Co-chairs Rona Fairhead (Financial Times Group) and Chris Snowden (University of Surrey) lead the group, hosting meetings throughout 2010. The Task Force’s first report, The Fuse: Igniting High Growth for Creative, Digital and Information Technology Industries in the UK, was launched in September 2010.

The recommendations to government, business and industry highlight the importance of the Creative, Digital and Information Technology industries for the UK economy, and argue that the UK government and devolved administrations should acknowledge CDIT industries and education as a strategic priority alongside STEM. It also calls for a greater understanding of the needs of these industries in the university system through more interdisciplinary courses and research, and for a radical overhaul of the IT curriculum in schools to ensure a better pipeline into HE and business.

The group also felt it imperative that creative, digital and information technology businesses and universities engage systematically to create virtual and physical ecosystems. Universities must mirror the interdisciplinarity of high-growth businesses in their teaching and research, students must be educated to be the innovative employees and entrepreneurs of the future, and the cost of doing business with a university should drop considerably – both in time and money.

To read more about ‘The Fuse’, and for links to download, please scroll down.

Task Force Members

Chairs

• Professor Christopher Snowden, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive University of Surrey
• Mrs Rona Fairhead, Chairman and CEO, Financial Times Group

Industry Members

• Dr David Docherty, CEO of CIHE, Chair of DTG Group
• Mr Alan Jenkins, Managing Director, Kaplan Open Learning
• Dr Bill Mitchell, Director, BCS, Chartered Institute for IT
• Ms Anne Morrison, Director of the BBC Academy, BBC
• Mr Gavin Patterson, Director, BT Group; CEO, BT Retail
• Mr Peter Phillips, Partner, Strategy & Market Developments, Ofcom
• Dr Mike Short, Vice President, Research and Development, O2

Academic Members

• Mr Nigel Carrington, Rector, University of the Arts London
• Professor Julian Crampton, Vice Chancellor, University of Brighton
• Professor Geoffrey Crossick, Vice Chancellor, University of London
• Professor David Frohlich Director, Digital World Research Centre, University of Surrey
• Professor Adrian Hilton, School of Electronics and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey
• Professor David Howard, Head of the Audio Laboratory, University of York
• Professor Bernard King, Vice Chancellor, University of Abertay Dundee
• Professor Elaine Thomas, Vice Chancellor, University for the Creative Arts  

Expert Network

• Mr Dominic Casserley, Director, McKinsey and Co
• Ms Kate O’Connor, Executive Director, Skillset
• Ms Davina Foord, Policy Advisor, Universities UK
• Ms Liz Hollingworth, Research & Policy, e-Skills UK
• Mr Phil Jones, Managing Director, Wired Sussex
• Mr Rick Rylance, Chief Executive, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

  Members can click below to log in to the Creative and Digital Task Force secure site http://creative.cihe.co.uk/