Joseph Dudley and Dr. Heidi Thiemann are thought leaders at the heart of the skills challenge in the UK space sector. They founded Space Skills Alliance in 2019, the UK’s Think Tank on all-things-space-skills. Access to the right skills and the right people is one of the primary challenges to business success and growth. Space Skills Alliance is on a mission to help educate and inform the government, industry and academia about these challenges, as well as to offer proactive solutions and advice about what needs to be done to solve some of these critical issues.

Space Skills Alliance implemented the 2020 Space Census, the first activity of its kind, analysing the demographic make-up of the UK’s space sector, publishing a number of highly informative white papers on the results in relation to demographics, women and pay.

Their joint efforts in this area did not start here, as they were responsible for building the SpaceCareers.uk website while working with UKSEDS, the UK’s national student body for space, has grown to become the main resource for early-stage careers in our sector.

Both Heidi and Joseph have made a massive impact to date on the discourse around space skills, especially in UK government, and their work continues to be of critical importance to the health and benefit of our sector.

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