This Project was awarded funding in July 2018 and has since been completed.
Funding enabled Norwich University of the Arts to set up and pilot a full-scale trial of an internship scheme benefitting SMEs and micro-businesses in the DCI sector. The interns were ‘loaned’ to the host business for the period of the scheme, returning to NUA’s Ideas Factory for ‘Base Camp’, a structured skills-build and mentoring programme.
Businesses tested the impact of new skills to their business in emerging areas, such as User Experience design, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality without the risk of taking on a new member of staff. Businesses with more diverse skills may be able to access a client base which may otherwise seek services outside of the region.
Graduates with specialist skills benefited as they were offered a way of developing workplace literacy and real-world business experience, thereby enabling greater retention of talent in the region. This is a key issue for the sector, which sees much knowledge and talent move out of the region.
