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Microsoft UK pledges support for Digital Skills for Defence

Homeland July 14, 2023

A new partnership between the Ministry of Defence and Microsoft will see staff MoD benefiting from enhanced digital skills.

Accelerating digital learning at scale and pace, the programme will support The Digital Skills for Defence (DS4D) programme, helping to transform digital skills across the whole workforce; military, civilian, digital professionals and leaders.

This partnership will help upskill the MOD workforce through deeper collaboration with Microsoft UK, supporting the Government’s priority to grow the economy. The key elements are:

Supporting the workforce in enabling training for Microsoft products and services.

Helping to raise awareness of additional skills programs and resources that align with DS4D’s training objectives and support the programme’s skills and development pathways.

Offering shadowing opportunities for Senior MOD staff to foster a culture of sharing best practice and adopting innovative digital approaches.

This year, Microsoft hosted an event at their innovation centre for senior leaders in defence, which was designed to prompt thought about the need to transform wider defence culture, increase levels of curiosity and create a step change in the ability to a work collaboratively across Defence.

The importance of digital skills was a major theme of the day and it was clear that this is a topic that impacts everyone from the Chief of the Defence Staff through to a ‘day one’ recruit.

At the event, Claire Fry, Director Functional Integration commented on the need to ensure that Defence is digitally ready for the future: “Our ambition is to deliver and then continuously adapt a critical capability uplift for Defence through the delivery of a world class digital skills education programme for the whole workforce, our leaders and for digital professionals. This is fundamental to retaining our advantage and keeping ahead of our competition.

“Our partnership with companies like Microsoft enables us to bring in leading edge digital learning for Defence, I’m delighted to have them on board.”

There are also several other collaborative projects that will be developed to support the whole force at MOD to increase their digital skills and knowledge. Microsoft joins other key partners in supporting the MOD in transforming the way the whole workforce accesses digital learning.

MOD Chief Information Officer, Charles Forte said on this agreement: “The Digital Skills for Defence Programme is enabling us to build, support and drive digital capabilities within the MOD. The programme will future proof the role we have in continuing to provide world class defence against our adversaries whether that’s in the battlespace or the back office. We are driving our culture of digital innovation by teaming up with partners like Microsoft to provide our whole force with development and training opportunities.”

Claire Barclay, Microsoft UK CEO said: “Almost every organisation I speak to is prioritising digital skills. When businesses invest in people, we all benefit; skills open doors for everyone. It’s an exciting time for the Ministry of Defence and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.”

Image: Microsoft/MoD Charlie Forte, DG CIO, Ministry of Defence watching a Microsoft Viva Learning demonstration

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Post written by: Vicky Maggiani

Vicky has worked in media for over 20 years and has a wealth of experience in editing and creating copy for a variety of sectors.