Session overview: The title is a provocation — but it's a question every employer, trainer and scaffolder has probably already asked. This session takes it seriously, without dodging the scepticism or overselling the technology. Bringing together learning specialists, training centre leads, employers and scaffolders, it examines what digital transformation in training looks like in practice — from blended learning and immersive tech to social media — and where its limits must lie in enhancing, not replacing, physical competence. It also turns to CPD: what genuine, ongoing development should look like for a highly skilled industry, and where digital tools fit into shaping that. The honest answer to the title question is: it depends entirely on how digital tools are used.

Why this session matters: Trust in training is not abstract — it is the difference between a safe site and a dangerous one. If digital methods are going to play a greater role in how scaffolders are trained and a smarter way to prepare people for the physical demands of the job, the industry needs to know what that means for competence, for safety and for standards. This session gives employers, trainers and scaffolders a frank assessment of what works, what does not, and where the line must be drawn. Because the real question is not whether digital training has a role — it does — but whether the industry is applying it in ways that genuinely build skilled, work-ready scaffolders, rather than cutting corners dressed up as innovation.