The first edition of The Edtech Podcast - The Hackney Edition, covering: 

• 20 minute interview with the principal of Hackney Community College, Ian Ashman 
• Hear more about the diversity issues which plague the tech industry and initiatives trying to help 
• Establish the three main barriers to better opportunities for young people in Hackney, established by a regeneration agency research document  
• Find out how the college and local tech and digital partners are collaborating to launch apprenticeship schemes in Shoreditch, Tower Hamlets and Stratford with BT Sport and local financial industries 
• The business challenges of skills shortages: are tech companies doing enough to build up local skills; should they have to or is import best?
• Understand the financial pressures of the further education sector and innovative models seeking to future proof the college
• How is the college working with on site tenants including a free school and an Edtech accelerator to get more for its students? 
• Chart the march of tech going east, as ‘tech outpaces itself from the Shoreditch market’ 
• Understand Hackney Community College’s new place in the educational development in the borough of Hackney and why it is raising awareness for alternate pathways to success beyond traditional Universities 
• How tech teachers are working with the Learning Trust to get support for collaboration and Edtech in Hackney

On the tech industry in Hackney: ‘We’ve seen massive growth in tech companies…big and small.’

On opportunities for local people: ‘We’ve seen very little direct opportunity for local people…including our students.’

On diversity issues in the tech industry: ‘It’s really startling when you walk out of a campus where 70% of your students are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds into workplaces over the road which are 98%, or in some cases, 100% white.’ ‘It’s very stark.’ 

On their apprenticeships scheme: ‘It’s been slow to get going, I have to say; slower than I would have hoped.’ ‘Those young people are having an absolutely fantastic time. They are getting a really good salary and they are brilliant ambassadors.’ ‘That’s our focus forwards; that we will be a major provider of digital apprenticeships on the olympic park site.’