PwC Set to Train Employees on Blockchain Technology, 3D Printing and Other Digital Technologies

Big four professional services network, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is looking to train about 1,000 of its employees on digital technologies including distributed ledger technology (DLT), A.I, 3D printing and more. The initiative is aimed at giving the firm an advantage over its competitors in the marketing consulting industry, as first reported by Digiday on August 30, 2018.

Boosting Workers’ Blockchain Skills

According to a Digiday report, in a bid to remain on top of its game and have the edge over its primary competitors, PricewaterhouseCoopers is launching a two-year digital skills acquisition program for its employees.

Dubbed Digital Accelerators, the program is scheduled to begin in January 2019 and would make about 1,000 employees of PwC proficient in digital technologies such as DLT, cleansing data, drones and more. The course would enable PWC to replace the typical workload of all participants with digital-heavy client work.

Distributed ledger technology, A.I, machine learning and other relatively new technologies have excellent capabilities to disrupt traditional systems, and forward-thinking firms have started integrating these nascent techs into their operations for them not to become obsolete in a few years time.

Digital talent leader at PwC, Sarah McEneaney, has revealed that because the accounting giant is not “primarily known” for its marketing consulting services, PwC is now having to compete with other ad agencies and consulting firms to get more clients.

And the only way to have the edge over these firms is to integrate all the cutting-edge digital technologies into its work.   

“My job is to future-proof our workforce. It just seems table stakes at this point that people should have more technical skills,” said McEneaney, adding “It’s needed for us to remain competitive and to be responsible for what our clients are also going through.”

Blockchain technology can help organizations cut costs, as it eliminates a considerable amount of paperwork and third-party involvements while also increasing transaction speeds.

McEneaney is not oblivious to these facts, and she has hinted that the Digital Accelerator course is also targeted at equipping the firm with the digital skills that would help its clients drastically cut costs.

PwC’s Blockchain Push

While some heavyweight financial institutions like the BIS have questioned the capabilities and relevance of distributed ledger technology, PwC has shown great support for the burgeoning technology in recent times.

As previously reported by BTCManager, in March 2018, PwC joined forces with Northern Trust Custody bank to launch a blockchain-based auditing service for private equity fund auditors, and in July 2018, the controversial Tezos cryptocurrency project hired  PwC to function as its independent auditor.