PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified major Rio Tinto will invest A$10-million into a four-year national programme to encourage digital skills development.

The miner said that it would work with leaders in Australia’s education and innovation sectors in a new, disruptive approach designed to tackle a looming skills gap in the nation’s future workforce.

The programme will be targeted at school-age learners, and aims to fast-track the development of skills needed for the digital future, including critical thinking, problem-solving, automation, systems design, and data analytics.

“This new programme takes a bold and disruptive approach to identifying solutions that will help equip young people with the knowledge and skills for a changing world,” said Rio CEO Jean-Sebastian Jacques.

“Rapid technological change is transforming our lives, and the pace of change is only increasing, challenging our ability to attract, develop and retain the talent needed to run our operations of the future. 

“Workers with transferable skills including broad-based Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths are critical for Australia’s future productivity and global competitiveness.

“Addressing the change in skills required by mining and other industries is a task that requires new thinking and genuine partnerships between business, governments and academia. This approach significantly expands the network of organisations focused on equipping people for a digital future.”

The programme has been launched at Rio’s Centre for Mine Automation at the University of Sydney, and developed in partnership with leading startup accelerator BlueChilli and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The programme will crowd-source and fund ideas from startups and schools.

Designed to prepare young Australians for work of the future, the initial phase of the programme will identify existing EdTech projects aimed at enhancing future skills, that can be scaled-up quickly for the use of students, teachers and parents.

Data compiled by employment analytics firm Burning Glass shows there is a shortage of transferable, broad-based science, technology, engineering and maths, or STEM, skills, such as systems analysis and programming, and broader expertise, such as communication and problem solving, needed for the digital revolution.

An advisory board of Australian education, innovation and business leaders, to be announced early next year, will guide the accelerator programme and recommend future areas for investment. In 2020, startups selected for the programme will each receive a grant from Rio, as well as training and mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs.

Rio Tinto will also encourage other business, education and innovation leaders to join the programme. 

The initiative complements the A$14-million Rio Tinto already invests in education programmes each year with universities, schools, governments and the not-for-profit sector to help meet growing demand for new and emerging skills. The existing investment includes a partnership with the Western Australian government and TAFE to develop the first nationally recognised qualifications in automation.