Human beings are fortunate enough to have a versatile collection of capabilities, and yet none define them better than that capability of growing on a consistent basis. This commitment to improve, no matter the situation, has enabled the world to clock some huge milestones, with technology emerging as quite a major member of the group. The reason why we hold technology in such a high regard is, by and large, predicated upon its skill-set, which guided us towards a reality that nobody could have ever imagined otherwise. Nevertheless, if we look beyond the surface for one hot second, it will become abundantly clear how the whole runner was also very much inspired from the way we applied those skills across a real world environment. The latter component, in fact, did a lot to give the creation a spectrum-wide presence, and as a result, initiate a full-blown tech revolution. Of course, this revolution eventually went on to scale up the human experience through some outright unique avenues, but even after achieving a feat so notable, technology will somehow continue to bring forth the right goods. The same has turned more and more evident in recent times, and assuming one new HRM-themed development ends up with the desired impact, it will only put that trend on a higher pedestal moving forward.
edX, has officially partnered with Drake State Technical and Community College, and Jobs for the Future (JFF), to further its Access Partnerships program and provide adult learners in the Huntsville, Alabama area with online boot camp programs in cybersecurity and data analytics. According to certain reports, this particular initiative, which is funded by Truist Foundation, will focus on enhancing technical talent in the Huntsville region, intending to dedicate special attention towards women, BIPOC, and lower-income professionals. Slated to begin in November this year, the program will be initially offered to about 60 learners. This means there will be 30-apiece learners for the cybersecurity boot camp and the data analytics boot camp. Once they complete their respective boot camp, the learners will be awarded college credit that can be applied toward an associate’s degree at Drake State. Although a sizeable number of variables are involved, the program in question is, as of now, expected to empower more than 150 Huntsville area residents over the next three years. Talk about edX’s Access Partnerships program, it is an award-winning social impact program which brings colleges, universities, local workforce agencies, and funding partners, together and sets a notably affordable stage for underserved learners to develop career-relevant technology skills. Supported by the platform’s industry-leading boot camp curricula in high potential technology fields, the stated program has already scaled up the career prospects of more than 3,000 learners so far. At present, edX has active Access Partnerships with 19 academic institutions stretching through regions, such as Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin etc. These partnerships, in turn, are supported by more than 90 agencies and community partners. Referring to the agencies and community partners in the mix, they are meticulously selected to support each region’s unique learner populations.
“edX is creating a sustainable workforce development model through our Access Partnerships. By bringing localized leaders in education and economic development together with key funding partners, we are delivering free or significantly reduced-cost, career-relevant education to underserved communities worldwide,” said Anant Agarwal, Founder of edX and Chief Platform Officer at 2U. “Working together with Drake State and other partners in the Huntsville community, we aim to improve access to quality education and help diversify the tech talent pipeline as demand for cybersecurity and data analyst roles continue to grow.”
Another detail which contextualizes the partners’ decision to pick Huntsville as the location is delivered by a Lightcast Labor Insights’ report. The report revealed that there have been more than 2,000 job postings for cybersecurity skills and more than 2,500 job postings for data analysis skills across the stated area in just last six months or so.
Developed in 2012 by Harvard University and MIT, edX is currently serving more than 78 million people worldwide. The company is keeping up with the times using thousands of job-relevant programs across every imaginable career discipline, including artificial intelligence, robotics, sustainability, public health, and of course, a whole lot of others. edX’s wider boot camp initiatives have reached over 75,000 learners, out of which nearly 86% have reported positive career outcomes.
“Drake State has long been committed to offering flexible, affordable technical degrees and customized skills training to support and enhance the lives of our workforce and the health of our industries across North Alabama,” said Dr. Patricia Sims, President of Drake State Technical and Community College. “Our new Access Partnership with edX will help us continue to meet workforce demands by preparing highly-skilled workers to take on roles in Huntsville’s unique blend of space and defense industries, biotechnology, healthcare, and high-tech manufacturing.”
