RPi news

UK faces electronics skills gap, warns Raspberry Pi creator 27 January 2014 • By Dave Baxter

http://business-technology.co.uk/2014/01/uk-faces-electronics-skills-gap-warns-raspberry-pi-creator/

The founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation warns the UK faces “catastrophe” if it fails to innovate in engineering and electronics.

Eben Upton, one of the people behind the Raspberry Pi computer sets which are distributed in schools to interest children in engineering, says Britain can only stay globally competitive through continued innovation.

When asked what would happen if British innovation dried up, he answers: “It would be an economically threatening catastrophe.

“200 years ago we got to the industrial level before anyone else. Before that, everyone was on a level playing field and your economy was propelled by the size of your population.

“We had 60 million people and this grand economy. We have got used to the idea that this is how the world works, but it’s not how the world works.

“Innovation is about trying to keep that ball in the air for another 50 to 100 years.”

Upton believes children should be given an opportunity to experiment with engineering, which he says is lacking in many homes.

“Often in homes where people do have a PC, it’s seen as a high-value item and a thing you don’t want to screw up.

“If the only chance to get mechanical experience was to dismantle your parents’ car, that won’t happen.

“But if it’s like a bike, you can probably put it back together.”

And he says that while the generation of ‘digital natives’ may be interested in technology, this does not equal an aptitude for engineering.

He says: “The term ‘digital native’ implies a level of sophistication. A two-year-old pinching out on a tablet is a digital native, but that doesn’t translate into understanding how anything works.”

He is keen to give children a chance in life both by giving them the opportunity to experiment with computer sets and teaching them skills such as coding.

“We need a focus on coding and algorithmic thinking. If that goes well, a child of age x will be able to talk about simple data structures.

“If we can do this, we are making sure everybody will be a potential enthusiast.”

He also argues children should be given a chance to study engineering at school – something currently not available.

“Engineering has an unusual problem in that it doesn’t get directly studied at school,” he says. “A child will have to do something like physics at school before studying engineering at university.

“It’s a surprisingly significant step to dedicate three years of your life and £20,000 of debt to study something you have never done. That’s a lot to ask of an 18 year old.”

.END