Amazon has launched the Alexa Young Innovator Challenge to bridge the future skill gap.
The tech giant has urged secondary schools in the UK to shift attention to Computer Science and tech by increasing education around the subject.
Amazon, alongside its partners Capital Economics and YouGov, investigated the need for additional focus on the subjects with a particular focus on Artificial Intelligence, in order to fill the vast need for this skill set.
Research conducted by Amazon alongside its partners, Capital Economics and YouGov, has revealed that 72 percent of secondary school teachers agree that schools should be making an active effort to increase education and resources around AI and computer science.
As computer science and AI roles could contribute up to £71 billion a year to the UK economy, Amazon has therefore rolled out the educational programme to create an Alexa Skill to promote social good in their community.
The programme is designed to inspire future innovators by providing teachers and pupils with free curriculum-based lesson plans and materials.
Research also revealed that jobs requiring computer science and AI learning are expected to increase by 40 percent in the next five years. In order to have enough workforce by 2030, lessons will be curated which support the development of AI learning.
Lauren Kisser, Technology Director at Amazon and UK Ambassador for Amazon Future Engineer, said: "AI is the world’s fastest-growing technology, and the UK is striving to be among the world’s leaders in this field, with 56 per cent of businesses planning to increase investment in AI technologies within the next three years.
"Through the Alexa Young Innovator Challenge, we hope to not only build confidence in students’ ability to understand and control this incredible technology but also inspire young minds, regardless of their background, to realise their potential as creators, thinkers and builders of the future; using AI to create innovative solutions to real-world problems."
