You are warmly invited to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery on 1st October 2018 from 9.45am, as the All-Party Parliamentary Design and Innovation Group, in association with the Design and Technology Association and the Design Business Association will be launching a report setting out a vision for how design thinking can be embedded within our education system, equipping students with the knowledge and skills required to confidently face the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, automation and the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. 

Figures from from across government, industry and education will be attending and participating the Group's 3rd Design and Technology Showcase. The event follows on from a showcase held at the House of Commons in October 2017, as well as a series of industry-led roundtables. Through keynote speeches and panel discussions, we will explore what we should be doing to inspire more young people to study design and technology as a route into careers in the design industry, engineering and manufacturing.

This launch has been timed to coincide with the Conservative Party Conference being held at the adjacent ICC complex from 30th September to 3rd October. The APDIG will be represented on a number of panels at the Conference Fringe events. 

Through this event we will showcase the very best of design & technology (we have invited seven Midlands schools to present and discuss their work) and will link this to a series of talks and discussions that will emphasize how important design and technology education is to supporting the implementation of the Government’s Industrial Strategy and its stated intent to create more high-tech engineering and digital opportunities in a society that is increasingly reliant upon technology.

Students and their teachers will demonstrate a range of creative digital and technical skills – from CAD CAM through to robotics, 3D printing and examples of iterative design solutions, set to captivate the audience and reinforce our message that design and technology should be an essential curriculum option for all students.

Key sponsors for the event include the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), HME-Technology, OCR, Rapid and the IET. 

Please click here to RSVP for this event.