Vodafone UK has announced that it has teamed up with Enterprise Nation to bring free digital skills training to 100,000 small businesses to help bolster the UK’s economic recovery following the pandemic. The announcement comes as research commissioned by Vodafone shows 25% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have purchased digital tools, but haven’t activated them yet.
Since March 2020 when lockdowns were introduced in the UK, many businesses have found themselves having to go online. This has led to increasing cyberattacks against SMEs which can in some cases ruin a firm financially. With the digital skills training from Vodafone and Enterprise Nation, business owners can learn about setting up a website, trading online, using collaborative tools, the best connectivity options available for their business, and how to protect their business and customers from cyberattacks.
Vodafone said that it will offer different levels of training to people based on their existing computing knowledge; materials will be available for those just beginning their online journey and to those who already know some best practices but want to expand their knowledge.
To accompany the upcoming launch of the training, Vodafone asked Atomik Research to carry out research into small business’ technical skills. The report found that 25% of SMEs are not activating tech/app solutions after making a purchase, 34% of SMEs aren’t clear which solutions are best for them, 27% of SMEs haven’t learned any new technologies, 41% of SMEs have not invested any money into digital tools, and just 35% of SMEs have basic cybersecurity measures in place.
The new business.connected courses will begin later in the month. If you run an SME then head over to Vodafone’s website to register your interest in the courses.
_small.jpg)
