Bright Data to Help UK Students Develop Data Skills Through Partnership With Leading Charity upReach

By HRTech News Desk On Jun 22, 2021

Leading data collection platform Bright Data (formerly Luminati Networks) is progressing its support for the UK’s National Data Strategy (NDS) by helping to build data skills among students at multiple universities through its Bright Initiative, which works to ensure that online data helps drive positive change around the world. The company is working with upReach, an award-winning UK social mobility charity that helps undergraduates from less-advantaged backgrounds access and maintain top graduate jobs. The collaboration will see Bright Data host a series of workshops to build students’ understanding of the global data industry and develop the skills needed to thrive in a real-time data-driven economy.

The collaboration follows Bright Data’s recommendation that the UK Government put data skills among the top priorities in implementing the NDS. This recommendation was made in the company’s submission to the consultation that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) carried out last year. The Government’s recent response to the consultation pointed to a data skills gap that is holding businesses back from fully realising the economic potential of data and outlined a need to provide foundational data skills training for university students. Bright Data’s collaboration with upReach is intended as a step toward meeting this goal.

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The collaboration will initially see Bright Data host two online workshops:

A session introducing students to the principles of online data collection that will explore the ways in which a wide range of industries are increasingly relying on online data as well as practical and ethical considerations that need to be accounted for;
A session for students with an interest in careers in the technology sector that will explore the growing use of ‘bots’ as part of efforts to fast-track the economy as well as the comprehensive safeguards that need to be in place to avoid misuse and irresponsible behaviours.
It is expected that these sessions will involve over 150 students from a range of UK universities.

Or Lenchner, CEO of Bright Data, said:

“We have a responsibility to invest in the future of the online data industry, particularly when it comes to ensuring a highly skilled workforce. By working with upReach, we are helping to develop data skills among students from the widest possible range of backgrounds. This talent pool is essential to the UK achieving the ambitions of the forward-thinking National Data Strategy.”

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John Craven, Chief Executive of upReach, said:

“We’re excited to partner with Bright Data as part of our new programme of support for 500 undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds (the “upReach Tech500”) looking to secure graduate roles in the sector. At a time when digital skills have never been more important, I’m delighted that Associates will access training from a leading employer in the data industry.”

Bright Data’s collaboration with upReach builds on work that the company is already doing with over 80 academic institutions around the world, including:

Extensive partnerships with institutions, including King’s College London and Royal Holloway, that allow students to explore present and future data-led opportunities and take up internship opportunities;
Providing pro bono online data collection services for research programmes at universities including Princeton, Oxford, and ETH Zurich.

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