Silicon Croft

Our Story

Since the very beginning of Mesomorphic, engaging the next generation of developers and putting Shetland on the map for its digital economy has been at the very heart of our company. We believe that the digital sector adds another string to our economic bow and we want to create local employment opportunities and support the development of local talent to fulfil these roles.

Our engagement pipeline is built around sustainability and we work alongside numerous stakeholders to share resources and provide professional development training so that these sessions can be carried out without us being present. In addition to learning about digital skills, we also encourage the development of soft skills such as digital literacy, critical thinking and self learning. We want to educate parents and educators alongside groups such as Skills Development Scotland and Developing the Young Workforce about the different roles available within the digital sector so that when it comes time to think about future career paths, digital careers are considered along with more traditional roles such as engineering, medicine and mechanics.

Over the past 18 months, Silicon Croft has expanded outside the classroom and we are now working with Shetland Library to create more opportunities for CodeClubs and other learning opportunities within schools. Over the next few months we are looking to expand even further and provide training to groups such as Youth Workers, Career Advisors, Guide and Scout leaders. Our ultimate aim is to support the integration of digital skills at a curriculum level, and highlight the various opportunities within the digital sector on our islands. By supporting digital skills development, we will continue to address the skills gap which has been highlighted throughout the pandemic, and help increase the employability of our future workforce regardless of which sector they decide to join.

Our engagement pipeline

At the heart of Silicon Croft runs our engagement pipeline. In order for Silicon Croft to be successful, we need to ensure that it is sustainable and easily adopted. It starts at primary school and follows all the way through to graduate level. It brings in resources from national stakeholders such as Skills Development Scotland and strengthens the various pathways into digital careers. Through our network, we will bring projects and talent to Shetland and continue to put Shetland on the map for its digital economy.

What are we going to do next?

Our library project

At the end of 2020, we partnered up with our local library with the aim of increasing the number of opportunities to develop digital skills both within our main and school libraries. By collaborating, we will increase the number of CodeClubs opportunities and introduce new resources such as the new Live Online Lessons from Skills Development Scotland. In August 2021, we will be holding our first cybersecurity training session with attendees from both inside and outside of the classroom where they will learn key terminology and run through an ethical hacking scenario to share with their students.

Celebrate STEM 2022

Next year we will be supporting an islandwide STEM event with SCDI to highlight the different STEAM opportunities on our island. We will have representatives from Engineering, Aquaculture, the Digital and Health sectors to show our students their potential future employers. It will also be a great chance for groups such as Skills Development Scotland and Developing the Young Workforce to speak with our employers to get up to date knowledge about what skills are needed within our industry.