Hackney,
26
February
2015
|
16:59
Europe/London

The young people of today: 'disrupt' the future is in your hands

Hackney Council has joined forces with Samsung to #GetHackneyCoding, a month dedicated to spreading the word about the importance of coding in the school curriculum using social media.

Pedro Phinn is a digital brand coach and youth & community engagement manager at the Shoreditch-based tech business Optimity. In this blog, Pedro talks about young people and their interaction with technology to ‘disrupt’ established industries.

We live in a world of infinite opportunity, although if you ask some young people you'd be hard pressed to find those who completely share this opinion.

However, when we talk in terms of technology; iPhone 6, IPad 3, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Smart tv, iwatch! eyes light-up and the conversation is able to go in a variety of directions.

The reality is, the young people of today have an inherent affinity with technology, especially for those born within the past 20 years for whom the Internet could be taken for granted.

Here in East London's Tech City the buzz word on every entrepreneur’s lips is 'disruption.

Disruptive technologies seek to displace established industries by simply doing things in a more efficient way. So 'disruptive technology’ seems fitting as a slogan for the youth of today, seeking to find their place in a society amidst uncertain economic times and employment, which have seen ‘established’ industries crumble or replaced by global tech empires born out of the cloud.

The point; the future of technology is much more about shaping the physical world we live. A world where possibilities are endless and boundaries are 'fair game' to be tested. As such, the reality is that in order for continued growth, a solid infrastructure is required to cope with future demands of new and emerging technologies, which equates to an increased demand for skilled workers, perhaps unlikely to be on the terms afforded by previous generations.

Knowledge of software coding language will likely become standard, as the PC is to any business today since emerging to replace the typewriter in the late eighties.

According to UK Commission for Employment and Skills, the UK Tech sector is said to require as much as 750,000 new digital skilled workers by the year 2017 and its little wonder why when you consider the Internet of things, 3-D printing and other emerging technologies.

Technology presents us all with an opportunity to improve daily life, requiring us to think differently, impacting how we interact with our physical environment. The digital wave is upon us and the real question for the young people of today is; what's next?
Pedro Phinn, Optimity digital brand coach and youth & community engagement manager