Agilisys – supporting the digital economy
BUILDING a more digitally-skilled workforce will enable Guernsey to benefit from growing economics globally without islanders needing to travel extensively, says an industry chief.
Richard Hanrahan, Agilisys Guernsey chief executive officer, offered the assessment amid the Covid-19 pandemic as he set out how the company is supporting the digital economy as part of a commitment to reinvest 2% of revenues on boosting economic development.
The company, which is the States of Guernsey’s IT partner, is drawing on expertise from across the family of companies to which it belongs.
Blenheim Chalcot is a specialist in building digitally enabled disruptive businesses from inception upwards.
Over the last 20 years it has built more than 40 businesses in a variety of sectors, including fintech, edtech, travel, software, sport and media.
Working in partnership with the Digital Greenhouse – the government-backed innovation hub – initiatives include data analyst apprenticeships, online digital marketing courses and upcoming digital leadership bootcamps.
An innovation network, launched in May, is designed to help businesses and entrepreneurs develop skills, work together to identify solutions to challenges, collaborate on growth and accelerate growth at scale.
A mentoring scheme connecting expertise from across the Blenheim Chalcot portfolio is also helping a number of businesses already, while other initiatives in development include support for fintech and medtech.
Blenheim Chalcot has a joint venture with Imperial College London to develop an innovation campus putting university research, science and students alongside some of the most innovative businesses in the world. As part of this partnership, the States of Guernsey will have an economic development office at the heart of the Scale Space campus in West London.
‘We’ve taken the aim to build a firm foundation of technology and skills across the island, making sure that we can create a legacy of opportunity through the programme,’ said Mr Hanrahan.
‘We want to see people in Guernsey able to take advantage of the growing economies in other jurisdictions, irrespective of whether it’s easy for them to travel on and off the island.
‘So, making sure that people have the requisite skills to thrive in the digital economy is going to be vitally important.
‘We also want to provide options that enable people who wish to develop skills and capabilities on island to be able to do so, without the need to travel to the UK.
Reflecting on the pandemic’s impact, he said that historically such events would have meant a geographical dislocation – but that enhancing digital connectivity had opened up the world.
‘You would have had this inability for people to transit from the island and be at the forefront of the economy. But now, digital connectivity enables you to have the entire global market available to you.
‘As a Guernsey business, you can sell globally.
‘You can sell product of course, but you can also sell knowledge and expertise, and all to a market which is becoming more comfortable with distance and remote service provision.
‘Guernsey has been brilliantly led through this pandemic to this point. You can sell that trust and reassurance. This is a great jurisdiction to do business with.’
Central to supporting the island’s digital economy was accessing the knowledge within the Blenheim Chalcot family of businesses, said Mr Hanrahan.
‘The partnership with the Digital Greenhouse, led by Lucy Kirby, was also a key component to the overall programme. We would not be able to do this as successfully without the Greenhouse.’
