Calling all agencies: We need your help to inspire the digital talent of tomorrow by backing BIMA D-Day
The Drum has once again joined forces with BIMA to urge young people across the UK to pursue careers in the digital industry.
Today we are asking agencies to take part in Digital Day, or D-Day for short, which will take place on 10 October and see digital professionals from across the UK's creative sector visit local schools and colleges to share their wisdom and experience.
D-Day 2012 saw over 1,800 pupils meeting professionals, hearing about agency life and ultimately discovering the digital careers that are open to them once they complete their education.
Now we want you to inspire the next generation by taking part in this year's event. You can find out more about what is involved and register for this year by visiting the new D-Day website
D-Day's aim is to address the UK's digital skills gap, with recruitment struggles a common complaint among agencies up and down the land.
The youngsters learn about the exciting opportunities open to them in the digital world and also take part in a competition spanning design, mobile, social media, coding and multimedia challenges on the day.
Writing for The Drum, Andrew Henning, chair of the education committee at digital body BIMA, explained that the initiative had been set up after its research showed "a real lack of knowledge about our industry" in schools.
He said: "Curriculum doesn’t help as digital doesn’t have a true home. Spread across ICT, Art & Design, Design & Technology and even Business Studies it is taught in bits amongst other modules.
"So the key aim of BIMA D-Day is to get youngsters interested in our digital careers early on [and] hopefully influence their further education decisions or increase demand for digital apprenticeships."
We invite anyone who practices digital - from marketing to advertising agencies, games developers and in-house digital teams - to help us and support D-Day this year.
You can find more information and register to take part at the newly-launched D-Day website.