@SASsoftwareUKI (SAS UK and Ireland)The University of Bradford (UoB), in collaboration with SAS, introduced the SAS STEP initiative in the city of Bradford to train and re-skill recent graduates and employees who were furloughed during the Covid-19 pandemic in data analytics skills. The collaborative university-industry partnership between Bradford and SAS and the socio-economic and demographic backdrop to the city of Bradford provided the setting for SAS, one of the largest data analytics software providers in the world, to pilot the SAS STEP initiative. The aim of the pilot programme was threefold: i) to support recent graduates who were unemployed through free training and certification in data analytics, ii) to support those who were furloughed during covid-19 back into employment through new digital skills, and iii) to support post-pandemic economic recovery by contributing to bridge the STEM, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science skills gaps that presently exist in the market. The initiative’s overarching aim was to provide unemployed graduates and professionals with data analytics skills, employment opportunities, and work-placements. Access to learning resources and supporting SAS software was provided free together with the time of senior professorial staff at the university and senior board level staff and training-educators at SAS. The main impacts of the SAS STEP initiative can be summarised as follows: supporting the move to a digital jobs-economy, SAS STEP programme adopted on a global basis by other SAS country offices as best practice for corporate social responsibility / jobseeker reskilling programmes; exemplifying academia-industry partnership to deliver an award-winning philanthropic programme.
