The West Midlands Digital Skills Partnership, part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) in collaboration with Birmingham Tech, has this week hosted an event which brought together business leaders and digital skills practitioners to help SMEs understand how digital transformation can help them deliver at a much higher level.

The event, which took place at iCentrum in Birmingham, discussed the importance of digital skills, the role technology plays in business transformation and the option of speaking to companies and individuals who have benefitted from taking part in digital training themselves.

As part of the event, Henrietta Brealey, CEO of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, delivered a keynote address. Henrietta commented: “Digital transformation represents such an amazing opportunity for our members, and I’m delighted to have delivered a keynote as part of this event.”

Clare Hatton, Director of Employment and Skills at WMCA, added: “Digital skills are critical to increased productivity in our businesses. Through our training providers we now have a fantastic service for businesses, providing them with new talent and training to improve the skills of current employees. The support of our Digital Skills Partnership has been instrumental in helping us create an offer that is current and relevant.”

A number of digital skills providers shared their thoughts during the event, including executives from Birmingham Metropolitan College, School of Code, University of Birmingham and the West Midlands Combined Universities.

The event, run in collaboration with Birmingham Tech comes after last month’s West Midlands Tech Review which saw the region celebrate being named the fastest growing tech sector in the UK.

Yiannis Maos, CEO of Birmingham Tech, will be hosting the event, said: “We have some fantastic businesses across the West Midlands and digital transformation represents an incredible opportunity for these organisations to achieve even more. As a region, we are extremely lucky to have a diverse and digitally-connected workforce emerging and these people can help transform traditional businesses into tech-enabled and market-leading brands.”