NE Valley Times

Arizona is committed to helping provide education and skills to workers as the state continues to attract more high-tech jobs.

On Oct. 29, the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), supported by the Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), announced a statewide initiative to “increase access to cloud computing education in schools,” according to a release.

Its goal is to provide training and certification to 5,000 students across Arizona for entry-level careers in cloud computing by June 2022 with extended long-term investments in technical skills training.

“Closing the skills gap and ensuring Arizonans are well equipped to pursue tech job opportunities remains a top priority for our state, and we’re thrilled to work with AWS to advance that mission,” ACA President and CEO Sandra Watson said in a release. “We’re also grateful to the Arizona schools that have signed on to offer these programs and look forward to continuing to add new educational partners.”

The ACA will work with schools to allow the AWS Educate programs and the AWS Academy to incorporate cloud computing education into classrooms. 

“AWS Academy provides higher education institutions around the globe with a no-cost, ready-to-teach, cloud computing curriculum that prepares students for industry-recognized AWS Certifications and in-demand cloud jobs,” according to the release. “AWS Educate is Amazon’s global initiative to provide students with no-cost resources for building cloud skills through self-paced learning content and access to AWS promotional credit and the AWS Educate Job Board. AWS Educate also works with institutions to customize or create programs of study by aligning curriculum to in-demand cloud careers.”

Educational institutions including technical education and high school career sites, community colleges and universities across the state are encouraged to participate in the initiative. With the AWS Educate program, interested students can take AWS Academy courses at participating higher education institutions or via online training courses and labs. 

“As Arizona continues to attract more high-tech jobs to the state, this collaboration will help provide workers the education and skills they need to fill those jobs,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in a release. “We’re happy to work with AWS on this initiative that will complement Arizona’s efforts to build and train the workforce of the future.”

To view the list of schools offering the AWS Educate and AWS Academy programs, please visit this website.