Party conference briefing: putting workforce digital skills at the heart of growth and AI policy
As AI sits squarely at the centre of political debate this conference season, policymakers cannot afford to overlook one of the biggest barriers to adoption: the capability and confidence of the workforce.
Our 2026 Party Conference Briefing sets out a simple but urgent message: a digitally capable workforce is the foundation for an AI-ready UK. FutureDotNow is encouraging partners, advocates and policymakers to put workforce digital skills firmly on the agenda.
Less than half of working-age adults can complete all the essential digital tasks required in modern work. Closing this largely hidden skills gap could unlock significant economic and social benefits, including increased productivity, higher earnings and improved business performance – as well as unlocking the full benefits of AI for all.
Shaping the conversation
The briefing is designed to support organisations participating in conference events, panel discussions, speeches, media activity and stakeholder engagement throughout the conference season.
It highlights why workforce digital capability should be a central consideration in economic growth, skills and AI policy discussions this autumn. It also provides evidence, messaging and practical recommendations that can be used across conference platforms, from keynote speeches and panel debates to media interviews and policy roundtables.
Use the document to:
- Take key messages into fringe events
- Challenge assumptions that AI adoption is purely a technology issue
- Ask speakers how workforce capability can and should be measured
- Use the evidence to shape policy conversations.
Policy recommendations
- Make building digital and AI capability across all working-age adults a national and local economic priority.
- Create local digital capability plans to support growth in every postcode.
- Make essential digital skills the foundation for AI readiness.
- Implement both a national framework and measure for workforce digital and AI capability.
- Embed digital capability building into employment, skills and procurement systems.
Five policy priorities for an AI-ready UK
The briefing outlines five priorities that FutureDotNow believes should be pursued by the end of this Parliament.
These recommendations align with FutureDotNow’s wider mission to close the workforce essential digital and AI skills gap while building on our work exploring the economic impact of digital skills, the social value created through greater digital capability, and the need to embed AI skills within the Essential Digital Skills Framework.
A resource for partners and advocates
Whether you are speaking on a panel, contributing to a policy discussion, hosting a fringe event or engaging with stakeholders, the briefing is designed to help strengthen the case for workforce digital skills. It includes:
- Key messages and evidence points.
- Conference-ready soundbites.
- Responses to common policy questions.
- Practical recommendations for government, employers and local leaders.
Party conference season offers an important opportunity to shape conversations about growth, productivity, skills and AI. We encourage all FutureDotNow partners and supporters to use the briefing to ensure workforce digital skills remain part of those conversations.
This conference season will help shape the next phase of the UK’s growth, skills and AI agenda. Make sure workforce capability is part of that conversation.
Download the Party Conference Briefing and use it throughout your conference activity this autumn.
