The Amazon Web Service (AWS) skills centre has trained over 20 000 students, to date, across South Africa.
Learners can attend classroom live training in Cape Town, while learners outside of Cape Town virtually join the same classes as they are taking place live in Cape Town.
The centre has seen partner organisations like Absa and Deloitte connecting with it to train community projects with marginalised youth.
Speaking during a media briefing on the side-lines of the AWS Summit 2024, held recently in Johannesburg, Chris Erasmus, country general manager for AWS South Africa, reflected on the milestones of the company’s first Africa-based skills centre.
The centre, launched in August 2023, is focused on up-skilling young and older learners, to combat unemployment and the digital skills gap in SA.
It forms part of the cloud computing giant’s efforts to bridge the technical skills gap through AWS-designed programmes, to help individuals work towards earning an AWS Certification.
According to Erasmus, the centre’s partnerships with Absa, the Western Cape and Gauteng Education Department and Deloitte have proven to be fruitful, with young people gaining access to free fundamental cloud training.
“We are really proud of the private-public partnerships that we have established with the centre so far.
“Through the partnership with Deloitte, Absa and Women in Tech, we are using this platform to provide opportunities. When we partner with a partner such as Absa, the commitment on their side, for example, is that if there is a cohort of 50 certified, they would absorb the 50 individuals, or their role would be to offer them out to their partner organisations."
The centre offers foundational learning opportunities, and provides in-person cloud learning spaces with interactive areas covering fields such as machine learning, game development, data sustainability, cyber security and space exploration.
In December 2023, 49 young women graduated from the Absa Women in Tech AWS Skills Centre programme and embarked on new career possibilities in cloud technology.
While the centre is open to over 18-year-olds, there has been more interest from school leavers who are looking to get into the job market for the first time, Erasmus noted.
“We have partnered with the Western Cape Education Department to train teacher assistants, and we have started the first cohort focused on basic cloud and technology skills, as well as soft skills and leadership business skills. We are now preparing for a second cohort which launched in August,” he explained.
The centre is open to day visitors and offers a “cloud discovery space” with 16 immersive exhibits that showcase how the cloud supports space exploration, gaming, machine learning and cyber security.
“We’ve been surprised as to how many individuals with no prior knowledge of what AWS is about, who take a walk into the centre and decide to sign up for these courses, and that is the exact reason why we established it in the first place – to provide access to skills.”
In addition, “Cloud Exploration Days” are held at the centre, where learners can learn more about job roles in the cloud, how to go about building a cloud career and learning from experts about their career journeys.
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