About Amazon Web Services
In 2006, Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduced the first ever cloud infrastructure solution. With this came the ability to get on-demand delivery of IT resources over the internet. Without the need to invest in and maintain hardware, organisations could develop and grow significantly faster at a fraction of the cost. Today, AWS is the most comprehensive and adopted cloud platform in the world. AWS powers organisations of all sizes across almost every industry in 190 countries with over 200 products, services, and custom-built solutions.
From machine learning to serverless computing to internet of things, organisations are using the cloud to solve ambitious challenges and improve the way we live. Netflix is able to stream 125 million hours of entertainment to over 200 million members a day. Terraformation is working towards planting a trillion trees by scaling and decentralising seed databases globally. Capella Space is providing disaster relief organizations around the world with detailed satellite imagery in near-real time. It’s exciting, and it’s just the beginning.
Amazon Web Services in Australia
AWS has the largest and most dynamic community, with millions of active customers and tens of thousands of partners globally – many of which are located in Australia.
Is Canva a go-to design tool for you or your students? Do you use Ticketek when booking a ticket for your favourite show? Do you bank with NAB? Have you been a patient of Gold Coast University Hospital? Have you ever ordered furniture from Koala? Are you a resident of New South Wales who received COVID test results from NSW Health Pathology during the height of the pandemic? Are you a citizen of Charles Sturt, South Australia?
These are only a few of the examples of how you might be interacting with the AWS Cloud in Australia. The AWS Cloud for Public Sector in Australia and New Zealand is helping customers across government, education, nonprofit, and healthcare innovate, evolve, and solve citizen challenges. In addition, AWS continues to expand its cloud infrastructure in Australia, including the recent launch of a data region in Melbourne.
The IT Skills Gap in Australia
As evidenced above, we live in an increasingly digital and cloud-enabled world, both in our personal lives and professional lives. According to The Tech Council of Australia, 1 in 16 working Australians now work in tech jobs and Australia has more software engineers and developers than solicitors, plumbers, or hairdressers. In 2022, the Australian government and technology sector set the goal of creating 1.2 million tech-related jobs by 2030.
Despite the increase of tech jobs, companies are struggling to fill tech roles and Australia’s talent scarcity is among the worst in the world. More than 62% of HR and C-suite leaders admit the talent shortage is causing problems for their organisations. 7 out of 10 workers in Australia are not confident that they are gaining digital skills fast enough to meet future career needs when 3.7 million workers are predicted to need digital skills training in the immediate future.
As a leader in the tech industry, Amazon Web Services has a role to play in cloud technology upskilling globally.
Amazon Web Services Education Programs
AWS is committed to expanding access to cloud skills training and education globally. We work hand-in-hand with organisations, education institutions, and governments to empower diverse individuals along different journeys to upskill, reskill, and prepare for high-quality jobs.
With free cloud training programs for learners, we offer a variety of resources to upskill on cloud knowledge regardless of where a learner is in their cloud learning journey.
Instructor-Led Cloud Upskilling Resources
AWS Academy – empowering tertiary education institutions with free courses to prepare students for industry-recognised certifications and careers in the cloud
Self-Guided Cloud Upskilling Resources
AWS Educate – helping any individual, regardless of where they are in their cloud learning journey, gain access to hundreds of hours of free online training and resources designed to upskill, practice, and evaluate cloud skills
AWS Cloud Quest – whether you’re starting your cloud learning journey or diving into specialised skills, this role-playing game will help you build practical AWS skills
AWS Skill Builder – build in-demand cloud skills with 500+ courses and learning paths, including self-paced labs, practice exams, role-based games, and challenges to enhance your learning experience
Amazon Web Services and TAFE Institutions Across Australia
We can’t wait to put even more innovative cloud technology and cloud training resources in the hands of learners —making it faster and easier for them to build anything, solve anything, and transform the way they achieve their goals.
We look forward to our collaboration with TAFE Directors Australia and learning how we can support TAFE institutions across the country. Please have a look at our AWS Australia FAQs or contact our team if you have questions or would like to discuss how we can support your cloud learning needs!
TAFETalks: Closing the Digital Skills Gap: Industry insights and strategies for meeting Australia’s growing job demand
Thank you for attending TDA’s TAFETalks: Closing the Digital Skills Gap: Industry insights and strategies for meeting Australia’s growing job demand. If you could not attend or would like to re-watch, the recording is now available below.
AWS' Collaboration with WorldSkills
- Why was Amazon Web Services (AWS) interested in supporting the 2023 WorldSkills Australia National Tournament?
Research highlights the need for digital skills given the gap that currently exists in Australia, in addition, the recent Gallup “Australia Digital Skills Study,” commissioned by Amazon Web Services revealed that a digitally advanced workforce contributes an estimated $41 billion to the annual GDP thanks to their higher income and productivity. As a leader in the tech industry, we are committed to helping learners develop their cloud technology skills and understanding what job opportunities are available. WorldSkills Australia enables us to connect with learners and help them as they progress along their cloud technology learning journey in a fun yet competitive way!
- How does AWS extend its support to the education sector beyond its involvement with WorldSkills Australia?
AWS believes it is time to move beyond business as usual to create the conditions for success where skills can be acquired in hours, and credentials acquired in days. To do that, we need to develop a culture of lifelong learning – right through from school to the workforce – to skill Australia at scale and nurture a digitally-skilled talent pool for the future. We are excited about the number of people we are helping across the region to get access to vital digital skills training that will set them up for success. So far, AWS has trained over 300,000 individuals in Australia on cloud skills since 2017, through skilling initiatives such as AWS Skill Builder offers which a digital learning experience that allows anyone with an internet connection and a desire to learn to access over 500 free, on-demand courses, in 16 different languages.
AWS offers a variety of free resources to students and teachers who desire to learn more about cloud technology. Some of the programs we offer include: AWS Educate, AWS Academy, AWS Cloud Quest, and AWS Skill Builder. These programs are designed to help learners, , whether they are at the beginning of their learning journey or preparing for jobs in IT. In addition, our Skills to Jobs Team works hand-in-hand with academic institutions by delivering training to learners that is aligned to real-world skills and connecting those learners to our global network of over 1.4M partners/customers looking for employees.
- What aspects of the 2023 WorldSkills Australia National Championships did AWS find most compelling?
It was truly inspiring to see so many students from across Australia who were eager to demonstrate their skills across a vast number of industries and professions!
For the Cloud Computing students in particular, our team was impressed with how well-prepared the students were for the competition. We designed challenges that many of the students completed in half the time we anticipated! Well done to the students for their hard work and to their teachers who sent them to the competition ready to compete. Keep up the great work!
We look forward to our continued work with WorldSkills Australia, and are keen to support any TAFE interested in providing their students and teachers with cloud computing resources and training.
