Thrive PR Announces Tech Academy To Help Bridge Marcomms Tech Skills Gap

In an industry first, thrive pr + communications, Australasia’s largest independent public relations agency, has announced Thrive Tech Academy – a technology information training program designed for marcomms professionals to advance their knowledge, understanding and ability to communicate in today’s tech-driven world.

With the tech sector’s annual contribution to the Australian economy sitting at $1.67 billion – making it the third-largest industry by value, and employing 861,000 Australians – tech is transforming the economy, disrupting industries, and creating new ones.

The demand for marketing and communications professionals in technology has never been greater, locally and globally.

Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) CEO Ron Gauci said, “The AIIA has long advocated that a highly-skilled domestic workforce is needed to support Australia’s digital capability and grow our economy if Australia is to remain globally competitive.

“But we also need to make our innovation technology sector accessible and understandable. Australian PR and marketing professionals have an essential role to play in spreading our message, and the Thrive Tech Academy course will help bridge that gap.”

Commenting on the announcement Thrive founder and managing director, Leilani Abels (main photo), said: “With every company becoming a technology company in some way, tech expertise is no longer a niche specialism, but a compulsory requirement for tomorrow’s workforce and for all growing industries.

“This rings especially true for those in marketing, public relations, media and other creative professions. Today marks the first opportunity for industry professionals and technology partners to register interest in a course that can transform their careers as we prepare for the 2022 launch of the Thrive Tech Academy.

“We are seeing booming demand for tech expertise in public relations, media, marketing and the advertising industries yet we see a huge shortage of talent with the capabilities to serve the tech sector.

“Additionally, technology is driving some of the most interesting and innovative projects by forward-thinking brands and we know that technology is an active driver in the recovery of our economy post-COVID-19.

“It is against this backdrop of the vital role technology is playing in powering industries and economies globally, coupled with the widening skills gap in this sector that has inspired the creation of Tech Academy.”

The Thrive Tech Academy brings together tech training and resources along with industry speakers to educate people coming from non-traditional technology backgrounds.

Registrations of interest are now open to both Marcom professionals wanting to upskill and industry partners wanting to lend their expertise to the program.

Helping professionals from all experience levels improve today’s most sought after Marcom skills applied to tech

The course content has been developed by thrive pr + communications, with the support of tech industry leaders including from the AIIA, Cisco, renowned tech expert Brad Howarth and more.

The course will be divided into three modules, from foundations around how technology is shaping today’s digital world, to more advanced tech and Marcom skills deep dives. Each module will consist of a 1 hour lesson per week for a 12-week period.

With a mix of theory and practice, as well as online and in-person sessions which will be delivered by Thrive Tech Academy’s panel of tech and Marcom experts, the course will put an extra focus on filling the most common skill gaps in Marcom today: technical writing, storytelling, thought leadership, and corporate profiling applied to technology.

The course will cater to all levels of experience, from graduates to more advanced senior consulting and management roles.

Thrive Tech Academy chief advisor Brad Howarth said: “The bottom line is that technology is everyone’s business. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in or whether you’re an executive or a grad, you can benefit from understanding technology, its applications, what’s happening in the world of tech, and the opportunities and challenges ahead.”

Cisco Head of Communication + PR AUNZ, Cori Moran said: “As a technology business, we find recruiting tech-savvy communications professionals into our business increasingly difficult. To have a course that addresses this skills gap will make a huge difference to the Australian PR and marketing industry’s ability to deliver value to both technology-based businesses and other businesses, which are all using technology in some way these days.”

The aim of Thrive Tech Academy is to help professionals become confident to work in the tech sector and in communications roles demanding knowledge of the industry.

It will also future-proof the careers of the local marketing communications and PR talent pool, offering them new opportunities to work for innovative brands and companies that are building the world of tomorrow.

Leilani added: “Thrive is uniquely positioned to tap into the best local and global minds to help with the quality and ongoing evolution of content, through the agency’s current clients and tech network including Cisco, Optus,  Dataminr, AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association), Genpact, Tinder, Airbnb, Reddit and others.  Having run intensive technology PR training internally for many years to skill up our team, we have seen the benefit that this knowledge brings to organisations.”