8. How does the Welsh Government's education programme develop skills in new technology and innovation? OAQ52783

Thank you, David. 'Education in Wales: Our national mission' sets out our approach to ensure our young people are digitally competent and evolve into enterprising, creative and critical thinkers. These skills will feature strongly in our new curriculum and are already embedded in everything a learner does in school through our digital competence framework.

Cabinet Secretary, you may have seen a recent report that said the Welsh technology industry is growing faster than any other area except London. During 2016, the number of digital companies launching in Wales grew from 3,000 to 3,275, or a growth of 9.1 per cent, and Cardiff and Swansea are now the leaders in this technological drive. It is very, very important that this is reflected in the curriculum so that our young people can take advantage of these opportunities and indeed create them, and should you need a special adviser, can I recommend my eight-year-old nephew, who advises me very well in this area?

I suspect all Members in this Chamber have the equivalent of your eight-year-old nephew who assists them in these matters. I know I certainly do. The Member is absolutely right to draw our attention to the importance of ensuring that our children are well equipped to take advantage of these economic opportunities that are becoming increasingly available. That's why we have invested £1.3 million in the teaching of coding in our schools. That's why the digital competence framework is the first part of our new curriculum to be made available to our educational establishments, and I'm delighted that we have been able to work with the Higher Education Council for Wales to establish the Institute of Coding, which will allow Cardiff and Swansea universities to become even more active members of that very important consortium.

We are also working collaboratively with the higher education sector to broaden the computer science skills we have at all levels in our communities, so that whether you're a schoolchild, whether you're a student at FE or HE, or indeed the adult learners that Eluned Morgan talked about earlier, access to digital skills continues to be a priority.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.