The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is hosting a skills summit this month aiming to arm delegates with the latest research on the impact of training and development.
To coincide with the UK's presidency of the EU, the summit, supported by Oracle Corporation, will draw on comparisons with the UK's European neighbours and will look in detail at skills issues and solutions.
Along with presentations from government, including Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Ruth Kelly and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, David Blunkett, there will be speakers from leading employers such as including BAE Systems and Cobra Beer.
Dr Hilary Steedman, senior research fellow at the London School of Economics will add a European dimension, looking at the link between training and economic development across different countries.
Chris Banks, Chairman at the LSC, who is hosting the event said: "As a nation we simply cannot ignore the significant productivity gap that separates us from our international competitors. Skills are vital to the future development of the UK's economy and we want employers to be central to the discussion about how we tackle our skills challenges - now and in the future. Skills Summit 2005 will provide a valuable forum for employers, Government and key partners to enable that discussion to happen."
Ian Smith, Senior Vice President and Managing Director at Oracle UK, Ireland and South Africa, will deliver a keynote speech at Skills Summit 2005. He said: "Oracle has a long tradition of promoting training and skills development internationally. As a business we feel very strongly that the persistent productivity gap between the UK and its main European competitors can be addressed by investing more in the skills of workers. We hope that through our sponsorship of Skills Summit 2005, we can drive the importance of investing in training and skills development home to other UK employers."
* Skills Summit 2005 takes place in London on July 13, for more information visit www.livegroup.co.uk/skillssummit2005.
