Why leaders must champion digital skills in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has been tipped as a potential Silicon Valley – but a closer look at digital skills in the country tells a different story. The latest Digital Skills in Northern Ireland report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) reveals that 23% of adults surveyed have no digital skills at all, and just 25% have advanced digital capabilities. 

On the surface, this might suggest Northern Ireland is in great shape. After all, if a quarter of adults could code, build AI systems or engage in data analytics, it would be remarkable. But in reality, this research defined advanced digital skills as completing ten or more of a range of tasks, including ‘Fill out an online form’, ‘Access or download media online’ and ‘Identify a suspicious or malicious email’. 

For leaders, these numbers should be an urgent call to action.

The leadership imperative

Technology continues to transform the way we work at a rapid pace, and the reality is that the digital skills gap poses a significant challenge for organisations and leaders who are striving to build resilient, adaptable and digitally confident teams.

• Read more: how Chartered Manager and software engineer Suzy supports her team

Leadership in the digital era is about more than just embracing technology; it’s about empowering your team to use it effectively. The NISRA report reveals key disparities based on gender, age, employment status and socioeconomic background. For example:

• More women (25%) reported having no digital skills compared to men (21%). Leaders must ask: are training opportunities equally accessible? Are digital skills embedded in leadership development?

• Over half (55%) of those aged 65+ lack digital skills. With people working later in life, digital upskilling should not be confined to younger generations. How can managers foster an ethos of lifelong learning in their workplace?

• One in ten adults under the age of 50 also reported they had no digital skills – a significant challenge for employers. This signals a need to rethink assumptions about age and digital competence. Digital confidence cannot be taken for granted, even among employees in their 20s, 30s or 40s.

• 43% of those economically inactive lack digital skills, compared to just 10% of those in work. Today, leaders have a role in supporting digital inclusion through mentoring, flexible learning and workplace training to ensure digital access is not a barrier to opportunity.

The say-do gap in digital leadership

These challenges are not limited to Northern Ireland – they are apparent across Great Britain and Ireland, too. Many organisations talk about digital transformation, but recent research from the Irish Management Institute reveals that as many as 80% of digital transformations fail. Without leadership-led action, digital upskilling remains an afterthought in many organisations – despite being identified by CMI as a critical factor in successful projects.

CMI training integrates digital competency as a core leadership skill, ensuring that managers are not only tech adopters, but also digital enablers. In Northern Ireland, the Department for the Economy’s Skill Up programme includes fully funded places for CMI programmes, including training courses at South East Regional College, which won the CMI Training Provider of the Year award in 2023.