After being delayed by the July rail strikes and following hot on the heels of the heatwave (in all senses) we’re very pleased to report that this year’s Network Computing Awards took place on July 21st in London. While the disruption and rescheduling affected the number of guests and nominees able to attend on the night there was still a great atmosphere at the evening awards ceremony, as talkSPORT’s Paul Coyte revealed this year’s winners assisted by Network Computing’s David Bonner.

Our 2022 winners include Netreo, who won the Testing/Monitoring Product of the Year award, Extreme Networks, winners of Network Project of the Year for their work in transforming the municipality of Borås Stad into a smart city, and ExaGrid, who took home a trio of trophies including Company of the Year. We’ll have a full round-up of our winners and runners-up in the next issue of Network Computing magazine and upcoming enewsletters. We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to nominate and vote online, our awards sponsors, and all of our guests and nominees on the night. And congratulations once again to all of this year’s winners!

So where will the next gen of industry success stories come from given our current skills shortage? Writing in this issue, Philip Ingram MBE states that, when it comes to cybersecurity, “The industry’s skills shortage is largely self-inflicted. The first key mistake we make is believing we need to rally troops composed of the ‘cyber elite’, or professionals highly skilled in specific and technical fields of cybersecurity. While such talent is necessary for a country’s military defence and cybersecurity-focused enterprises, they are not essential in other organisations to run securely.”

For Natasha Traynor, Director of Apprenticeships at QA, the answer to the IT skills shortage may well be found in digital apprenticeships. “Degree Apprenticeships allow learners to study up to master's degree level at some of the UK’s top universities while earning a salary. They can enable access to university education for those who might otherwise struggle to afford it while arming apprentices with the real-world skills they need to succeed in their careers. They also play an important role in solving the digital skills gap, providing learning in in-demand skillsets like Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, and Digital User experience.” Read Natasha’s article on solving the skills gap for more.

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