As aerospace and defence go digital, the human dynamic is key
As the aerospace industry evolves, so does its skills requirements. Inzpire recently launched a new training academy to help ensure the sector has the talent it needs now and in…
As the aerospace industry evolves, so does its skills requirements. Inzpire recently launched a new training academy to help ensure the sector has the talent it needs now and in the future. We talked to Simon Gilbert about where the training is focused, and why.
Gilbert commented: “Our new training academy is a wide range of courses – primarily aimed at the military, but some great crossover into civilian businesses as well.”
The courses include cyber operations, electronic warfare and counter-terrorism, as well as areas like human factors and safety.
The main weakness
Gilbert said: “We range our courses from the basic all the way through to advanced, and it’s primarily aimed at encouraging organisations develop that defensive mindset and understand their weaknesses.”
He added: “Actually it’s the people who are your main weakness. It’s not about the kit; it’s about the people. So it’s really focused on bringing that training level up through the different courses.”
The human dynamic
Inzpire also applies this human-focused approach elsewhere.
Gilbert said: “We train all the aircrew in the UK on human factors. Again, this is understanding the human dynamic: How are mistakes caused? How do accidents happen? Often it’s a human in the loop, so if you start to bring that nice and early into your training, it starts to cut down the accidents rates.
“This has parallels with things like rail, heavy industry, pretty much any industry. If you can understand the human weakness, how humans work together; it’s a great enabler for a company.”
Human capital
Across the board, skills gaps and a threatening talent shortage are among the top issues keeping aerospace industry leaders awake at night. On where he sees the priorities, Gilbert said: “From the military side, really a lot of it is in terms of understanding networks, cyber, electronics, electronic warfare – they’re key areas. Also on the softer side, things like the media operations and strategic communications are key.”
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