West Virginia is the fourth state to join Amazon Web Services' Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance. The alliance is an initiative launched last year to bring together workforce development organizations, universities and technology companies to provide entry-level career training.
According to a recent news release, the state will be the first to participate in the AWS initiative, which focuses specifically on providing technical training in rural communities as the state grapples with a national shortage of technical talent in IT-related fields. The initiative will allow West Virginia government and institutions of higher education to collaborate with AWS and others to build career training programs focused on cybersecurity, according to the announcement.
Universities across the state have been working on talent development efforts in recent months. In November, West Virginia University partnered with AWS to launch a cybersecurity education and training facility, and West Virginia State University opened a cybersecurity innovation center. In August, Marshall University received $45 million from the state to build the National Cybersecurity Center for Critical Infrastructure.
“West Virginia's new AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance will partner with government, educational institutions, and nonprofits to support organizations and their enduring need for highly qualified talent essential to future growth. continues our global mission,” said General Manager Valerie Singer. AWS says in an official statement that it is responsible for global education in the public sector around the world.
According to a news release, the AWS Tech Alliance includes industry, education, and workforce development partnerships in Illinois, New York, and Washington, as well as Egypt, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Singapore, where AWS is leading cloud support carriers. He said he would like to train more people for this purpose. , software development and data integration. The West Virginia partnership will bring together resources from IBM, Trilogy Innovations, NextGen Federation Systems, Vertx Partners, Marshall University, West Virginia University, WVU Medicine West Virginia University Health System, West Virginia State University, and Community and Technical College, he said. . such as the West Virginia system. With the West Virginia effort in mind, the Tech Alliance will work with more than 80 educational institutions and 380,000 students around the world, according to numbers on AWS's website.
“West Virginia’s partnership with the AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance represents a strategic investment in our future. In doing so, we are bringing together government, education, and industry to innovate. We are building a strong ecosystem that accelerates innovation and provides our people with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive in the digital age,” West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said in an official statement. .
