Tech City UK and UCL launch the Digital Business Academy

UCL and Tech City UK is launching the Digital Business Academy, the world's first government-supported online learning platform to provide digital and business skills for anyone aspiring to start, grow or join a digital business.

The programme is open to all UK residents and requires no pre-qualification.

The Academy brings together world-class educational institutions and industry experts to give anyone in the UK free access to digital business skills. Over 1,000 people have already signed up during the pre-registration phase to online courses from UCL, Cambridge University Judge Business School and Founder Centric, a grass roots startup school that works with the likes of Seedcamp and Oxford University.  The programme is launched in beta and the platform is powered by UCL's online learning platform UCLeXtend.

Over 35 industry partners including the BBC, O2 Think Big, Unruly, Ogilvy Labs and Microsoft Ventures have endorsed the programme. Our partners offer tangible opportunities to course participants in the form of paid internships, mentorship, specialist content, and free startup support such as access to loans and free co-working space.

"Ensuring that our people and businesses have world-class digital skills so they can compete in the economy of the future is a key part of our long-term economic plan to back business, create jobs and secure a brighter future for Britain," said Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking about the launch of the Digital Business Academy.

"We have put coding into the school curriculum and our rollout of superfast broadband, backed by over £1bn Government investment in our digital infrastructure, has now passed more than 1.5 million homes and businesses and is reaching 40,000 more each week.

"Building on this, the Digital Business Academy will open up our great universities and provide the know-how to help hardworking people get on in life, reinforcing the UK's position as a leading digital economy."

UCL's Vice-Provost (Enterprise & London), Professor Stephen Caddick, added: "UCL has from the very start been a strong supporter of Tech City UK and we are delighted to be a partner in the Digital Business Academy. We are committed to helping as many people as possible to acquire skills in business, digital technologies and entrepreneurship so that they can start and grow the companies that will create jobs and drive the UK economy."

The Digital Business Academy courses include business development, marketing, branding and finance, and features videos, reading and hands-on practical exercises. Each course will take between 3-6 weeks to complete.

Links

Digital Business Academy