The Digital Task Force for Planning has today launched the first Digital Planning Education and Training Listing, a major new resource on the Digital Planning Directory that will strengthen digital capability across the planning profession and support the development of future talent.

The Listing brings together, in one place, the universities and training providers offering courses with dedicated digital planning content. This includes programmes focused on specialised digital planning, as well as integrated planning programmes that incorporate substantial digital components. 

The inaugural listing includes 22 degree courses from nine universities, one upcoming course, and five training programmes from four organisations. It gives planners, students and professionals a single place to find opportunities to develop digital skills and aims to encourage more digitally confident graduates to enter the planning profession.

The Listing directly supports the government’s ambition to reform the planning system and deliver 1.5 million new homes during this Parliament. Modernising planning depends not only on new rules and investment, but also on equipping planners with the digital skills needed to put reform into practice. In the last two MHCLG Capacity and Capability Surveys of English LPAs (MHCLG, 2023; 2025), digital skills were identified as one of the biggest skills gaps.

The Education & Training Listing launch event held today at the Department of Informatics at King’s College London, whose MSc Urban Informatics programme is among the first courses included in the listing, brings together around 100 representatives from universities, training organisations, local planning authorities, industry, students and government departments.

The event also celebrates the publication of the Digital Planning Directory Annual Impact & Vision Report (2025–26): Building the foundation for a scalable digital planning ecosystem, which sets out the significant progress made in the Directory’s first year and its ambitions for supporting the continued digital transformation of the planning system.

The Digital Planning Directory, seed-funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and delivered by the Digital Task Force for Planning, serves as a one-stop shop for digital planning solutions.

Launched a year ago, it has attracted more than 45,000 users, helping to bring together a previously fragmented sector, foster stronger collaboration between local authorities, industry and academia, and support the development of practical procurement and knowledge-sharing tools for the planning sector. In its first year, the Directory has also engaged over 2,000 participants across the sector through in-person and online events, listed more than 100 digital service providers, and established 10 structured service categories covering the full scope of spatial planning.

The Digital Planning Education & Training Listing is now live and will continue to expand as more universities and training providers join the initiative.

Dr Wei Yang OBE, Co-Founder and CEO of the Digital Task Force for Planning, said:

“Planning is entering a new digital era. Addressing challenges such as climate change, housing delivery and sustainable growth all require planners to work with data, digital tools and knowledge from a wider range of disciplines.

“The new Digital Planning Education and Training Listing brings together leading programmes that combine planning, urban analytics and digital technology. By supporting both the next generation of planners and the upskilling of those already in the profession, this initiative will help build a digitally confident planning profession – one capable of harnessing innovation to deliver better places and communities.

“I am also delighted to launch the Directory’s first annual impact review and share our vision for the future. As a sector catalyst for collective effort and shared benefit, the Directory has, in its first year, brought together some of the most innovative digital planning service providers in the UK across ten categories, helping to break down barriers and accelerate the use of digital innovation in everyday planning practice.”

Professor Mark Plumbley, Head of the Department of Informatics at King’s College London, said:

“King’s College London is proud to support the Digital Planning Directory and its new Education & Training Listing. Modernising planning education is essential to creating a more digitally confident sector, and this initiative brings together universities and training providers with a shared commitment to the public good.

“We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the Digital Task Force for Planning in strengthening the skills, evidence and innovation needed to shape better and more resilient places for the future.”

The Digital Planning Directory Annual Impact & Vision Report (2025–26): Building the foundation for a scalable digital planning ecosystem, can be viewed from HERE.