Digitalisation is a major megatrend of this century and holds the potential to drastically transform various industries and production techniques. However, the pace of adoption of teaching digital technologies at universities is in general very slow, may not meet industry needs, and hence will result in a still wider gap in digitalisation and computing skills. Therefore, we are writing to you to invite you to complete a survey to help us to map the current skills provision in the industry and universities.

The aim of this survey is to identify the digitalisation skills gap from both academic and employer perspectives. The results of the survey will assist in the development of a framework that defines the requirements and proposes a structure for the implementation of Digitalisation and Industry 4.0 concepts in the chemical (including biochemical) and process engineering curriculum, teaching material and educational programmes that are attractive to prospective students and prepare them well for future applied smart manufacturing and industrial practice.

By participating in this survey, you will have the opportunity to share your experience with regard to Industry 4.0 and Digitalisation requirements. You will be contributing to improving the quality of engineering programmes and narrowing down the skills gaps. This will in turn be beneficial to you, as you will receive information on the current state of teaching digital skills, employers’ concerns and future needs. The results from this survey will also be shared with the wider chemical engineering community to have a better understanding of the required skills and support the education of chemical engineers.