Amazon Web Service (AWS) has embarked on an ambitious goal of imparting cloud computing skills to over 29 million people worldwide by the year 2025. The program is dubbed AWS re/Start. On that front, AWS has announced its partnership with a Kenya government digital empowerment program, Ajira Digital, in conjunction with getINNOtized to launch free cloud computing training to its first cohort of 50 individuals in Kenya.
As you might have already been aware, AWS is a global cloud computing platform that offers cloud-based solutions and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments. The platform is metered on a pay-as-you-go basis.
On the other hand, Ajira Digital is a youth empowerment program set up by the government of Kenya. The program aims to impart market-demanded digital skills to the Kenyan youths and connect them with employers looking for those skills. While getINNOtized is a Germany-based social enterprise.
AWS re/Start Kenya
The AWS re/Start free cloud computing training program will run for 12 weeks in Kenya. It aims at recruiting the unemployed and underemployed youths with little to no technology experience. Upon successful completion of the program, the graduates can undertake a career in the cloud computing sphere.
The program also trains the students in resume writing while also connecting them to local employers looking for their set of skills. The core training, however, will include the following:
- Networking
- Programming
- Security
- Relational databases with hands-on training coursework
For the year 2021, AWS re/Start Kenya aims at churning out at least 100 cloud-computing students. Then bump that up to 400 at the end of 2022.
Possible Job Openings
At the end of the program, the AWS re/Start trainees will sit for the AWS Certification Cloud Practitioner exam. The certification will be recognized within the relevant industries and will validate the trainees’ cloud computing skills. Armed with those credentials, trainees could apply to the following types of jobs:
- Technical adjacent business support functions
- Site reliability
- Cloud operations
- Infrastructure support
AWS re/Start Africa run
The AWS re/Start program premiered on the African scene in October last year in South Africa. It later launched in Nigeria, Ghana, and now Kenya. The program aims to have trained at least 1,000 youths across the African continent by the end of this year. More details about the program can be found on their official website here.