It has been estimated that 800,000 more IT professionals are needed across Europe by 2020.

According research by CompTIA, most IT companies in the UK are still struggling to find people with the right skills to fill job vacancies, with 44 per cent of businesses saying the problem is affecting their productivity.

This is all despite the fact that IT offers a secure, well-paid and secure career.

To ensure Wales and the UK as a whole can keep up with the rest of the world with technological innovation, and have the skills to provide the IT support which underpins so much of our society and economy, it is important to encourage young people to pursue IT as a career, and give them the tools to succeed in it.

CompTIA was at Digital 2015 on Monday to help Welsh educators foster the IT professionals of tomorrow.

Presenting at the TeachMeet event hosted by Chepstow School on Monday, CompTIA advised teachers on how they can use technology most effectively to support their teaching, and the resources available to help them improve the digital skills of their pupils within the curriculum.

CompTIA run a number of programmes and initiatives for educators to encourage young people to consider further study and a future career in IT.

CompTIA’s Academy Programme is free to join and provides valuable resources for both teaching and IT careers.

In the autumn it will launch CompTIA’s Instructor Platform, where educators can share teaching methods and ask questions in a trusted community. It will also launch the Dream IT initiative, which will provide tools to help encourage more women and girls into IT.

CompTIA also works closely with the Cyber Security Challenge to improve the UK’s digital security skills - the area identified by IT businesses as the most in need of new talent in our recent research.

The Cyber Security Challenge runs national coding games, competitions, and events, and provides free teaching resources to help get kids interested in cyber security and have fun at the same time.