Labour MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, Kanishka Narayan has announced a new plan to generate 1,000 new jobs in the Vale's technology, digital and innovation sectors by 2030.
The campaign was launched at Cardiff and Vale College's Colcot Road campus on Friday, where students took part in a workshop focused on Artificial Intelligence, run in collaboration with Google.
The commitment to create 1,000 jobs is said to split into 500 full-time positions for seasoned professionals and 500 trainee roles for young individuals hoping to break into the industry.
The launch event featured a presentation by two year 12 Ysgol Bro Morganwg Students, Aled and Will who had created a new digital revision tool aimed a A-Level students studying STEM subjects in the Welsh Language, after identifying a lack of easily accessible resources whilst studying.
Following their presentation, Narayan surprised Aled, a math enthusiast with dreams of entering quantitative finance with two offers he had secured for internships at top-tier investment firms.
"I didn't know a Year 12 kid could dream of trading," said Narayan, "but Aled did and now, he's going to live it"
Kanishka is working with Will to support him in a tech company placement experience to help launch his career as a Welsh tech innovator.
Speaking to Bro Radio News at the campaign launch, Kanishka Narayan MP said the campaign's main focus was to create jobs for years to come: "The single most important part here was to come up with jobs in Vale of Glamorgan that will be here in 10, 20, and 30 years time."
"Whether that is a core technology job, or whether it's digital marketing, if you're running a business on the high street or whether it's fundamentally what you're able to do in terms of education and healthcare, technology is the thing that drives them all together over a 30 year period and that's why technology is the thing that we've focused on here."
"With this campaign, I wanted to set a really ambitious target, because one of the things I consistently feel in politics is that people often talk about vague words and promises. I wanted to do something sharp, accountable, focused, and deeply ambitious. It just measures up to the ambition that I see in our community."
The 'All Hands on Tech' campaign will also feature a new monthly podcast featuring Welsh and national tech leaders, an accelerator programme to support innovation, entrepreneurship and business growth through tailored guidance, quarterly free advice sessions to support Vale businesses in becoming experts at digital marketing tools and a Vale start-up School, aimed at inspiring the next generation of tech entrepreneurs.
Speaking following the campaign launch, year 12 student Aled said: “When I told Kanishka about my dream job - he didn’t just wish me luck - he found me the chance to prove myself."
"Since we have met him the opportunities that have come through have been incredible. We have all these opportunities that have come from Kanishka and his work. This is something we never expected."
"Before today, I would never have considered Barry to be a player in the tech world but now with 1,000 jobs and opportunities coming in, we can become a player in the tech world and really make a difference as the Vale."
Will added: "This will 100% help people in the Vale. The biggest challenge we are facing is the lack of opportunities and lack of confidence you can do something in this space."
"Kansihka has introduced us to so many people and the fact that he has used his own name and his own reputation to help us, reflects just how devoted he is to the people of his constituency. The hope and opportunity this gives is incredibly valuable."
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