The Live Wire



Press Release

STEM skills vital to the Scottish economy

14 September 2011

The importance of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills to the Scottish economy will be the subject of an event taking place at Holyrood today (Wednesday 14 September).

Organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the event will be hosted and chaired by Maureen Watt MSP.

Among those speaking will be Allan Cook CBE, chairman of Atkins, SELEX Galileo, and sector skills council Semta. He will urge businesses to ensure they have the right skills to prepare for future growth and highlight the important contribution that Scottish businesses have made towards the UK's engineering and manufacturing industries. However, he will stress that investment in ensuring a pipeline of new talent into the industry is vital in cementing Scotland's future presence on the engineering global trade stage.

Dr Tony Whitehead, IET Director of Policy, will also address attendees. He said: "STEM skills are the cornerstones of a successful, sustainable economy and one of the keys to Scotland’s future. Motivating young people to take a career in STEM seriously is key and an activity in which the IET invests considerable time and resource.

"Clearly, though, more needs to be done. Changing this requires commitment and leadership by the Scottish Parliament together with a harmonised effort by industry, the STEM professional bodies, such as the IET, and other stakeholders."



Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.

More from Dods

© Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd