Sisolak announces cloud-training collaboration between Amazon, schools

Gov. Steve Sisolak on Wednesday announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services that will train and certify 2,500 Nevadans in cloud computing.

Cloud computing allows individuals and companies to access technical infrastructure and other IT resources over the internet, instead of using their own hardware and servers.

The collaboration with AWS would provide access to cloud computing education courses and certifications in high schools and higher education institutions across the state.

Sisolak and AWS announced the partnership at a news conference Wednesday, saying it would ensure young people had a roadway to success to well-paying jobs in the state.

“It doesn’t do any good to have people trained and not have jobs for them when they get out of school,” Sisolak said. “We need to do a better job of collaborating and coordinating, and this program does just that.”

Sisolak and Kim Majerus, vice president of US Education, State and Local Government at AWS, stressed that such jobs were in high demand, with thousands of unfilled jobs in the cloud computing sector and not enough people to fill them.

Sisolak said it’s difficult for the state to attract companies in fields such as cloud computing or IT because of the shortage of trained workers.

The program with AWS will allow students take cloud computing training courses, after which they could immediately assimilate into the workforce, according to Sisolak.

“We want to inspire that next generation, and we’re going to engage with modern cloud computing curriculum that has students excited to take that next step in their tech career,” Majerus said.

Sisolak said he hopes to expand the program and opportunities for cloud computing beyond the initial 2,500 jobs. He also said the state would prioritize recruiting students for the program from marginalized communities that do not have equitable access to the internet and other educational opportunities.

“I don’t want to diminish the 2,500 number … for those 2,500 people, this is the most important program that there possibly is. These jobs are the most important ones,” he said. “As you see the success of this, hopefully we can get Amazon to partner with us and with our agencies to expand upon this.”

Contact Lorraine Longhi at llonghi@reviewjournal.com. Follow @lolonghi on Twitter.