Scottish Widows is due to induct the second wave of future tech stars today at its Dundee Tech School, following the success its first year of trainees achieved.
The latest group of 24 digital skills students will work together on developing new ‘gamification’ content for banking and pension apps for Scottish Widows and Lloyds Banking Group’s other brands including Halifax and Bank of Scotland.
The content which is being developed will be designed to help more people connect their pension and make it easier for them to plan their financial future, much like the popular Pensions Mirror tool, which was released last year and has had more than 500,000 views.
The Dundee Tech School was set up in 2023 as part of a commitment to create a pipeline of 150 new technology-led jobs in Dundee and help address the current gap in tech jobs in the UK. Scottish Widows’ Rose Ulldemolins – recent recipient of the Digital Star Award at the Bupa Everywoman in Technology Awards 2024 – will continue to lead the school as its new intake of students begins an intensive year-long training and development course.
This year’s students, who are training for roles including experience designers, product owners, quality engineers, and software engineers, will form two new teams on completion of training. The student group comprises a range of backgrounds, experiences, ages, and a near-equal gender split.
As a key part of its pledge to invest in the future of Dundee, the Tech School is set to collaborate with the University of Dundee and Abertay University, alongside members of the local gaming community, on ‘GAMEJAM.’ A hackathon with an emphasis on gaming, GAMEJAM will see Tech school recruits and university students collaborate on a series of challenges designed to get them sharing knowledge and teaching each other. The event will be hosted by the Victoria & Albert Museum in Dundee on the 4th March.
The School has been built as a platform for continuous training, beyond the year’s study its students initially undertake. Graduates from the initial 2023 intake – who collectively moved into roles within Embark –have already gone on to pursue further qualifications alongside their employment.
The Tech School’s first year of delivering industry-leading training is already receiving recognition. Based on the success of students from its first year, the Dundee Tech School is a finalist for the Innovation Award at the Scottish Financial Services Awards.
Jackie Leiper, Managing Director, Scottish Widows, said: “We’re extremely proud of the great work last year’s talented group have already delivered, including brand new gamification content in our app to make it more engaging and user friendly.
“Making financial tools more intuitive is crucial to help drive financial knowledge and wellbeing for the next generation. It’s important for us that this investment in technology directly benefits the local area, and we’re looking forward to more collaboration with Scottish Enterprise to help Dundee maintain its reputation as a centre of excellence for digital innovation in the UK.”
Lyam Walburn, Tech School graduate and now Junior Developer with Embark, said: “My time in the Tech School was transformative. The level of training and investment in us as developers was a massive confidence booster and it really helped prepare me for moving into the job. I’m already working with a team of developers and making a difference that I couldn’t have imagined.”
Scottish Enterprise has supported the Tech School with a £1.2m training grant. The organisation’s Managing Director of Innovation and Investment Jane Martin said: “It’s great to see the latest intake of trainees begin their study at Dundee Tech School, and to hear of innovations already resulting from the project.
“Through our missions approach we’re focusing support on industries – such as fintech – where Scotland has global strengths. We know growing these industries will help boost Scotland’s productivity and create good quality, higher paid jobs across the country. Dundee Tech School is a fantastic example of this and has an important role to play in making sure future employees have the right skills for the industry.”
