The Open University has been out in force at this year’s Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference.
The annual event in London is a gathering of business leaders from across Great Britain, and the OU was in attendance to highlight the benefits of developing skills through lifelong and part-time learning to delegates, and to promote the work the university does with companies around the world.
The conference welcomed a number of key speakers, including the Prime Minister, David Cameron, who took questions from delegates following his keynote speech. Responding to a question from the OU, Mr Cameron talked about the importance of skills in the UK economy, saying “the apprenticeship system needs to be flexible enough, as it is at the moment, so that many people will go on and do a degree while they are working in a business.”
My @CBItweets speech today – we will work with business to create more jobs and build a more dynamic, enterprising economy #CBI2015
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) November 9, 2015
The Open University regularly supports over 1,300 organisations, including IBM, BT and KPMG. With over 90% of the next decade’s workforce already in work, upskilling and retraining employees is becoming increasingly important for business owners.
The conference also included a series of interviews on disruptive innovation, hosted by Newsnight presenter and visiting Professor at The Open University Business School, Evan Davis.
