The Power of Public-Private Partnerships in Digital Skills

A man typing on a computer around other several screens

A well-known writer once said that “everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it”. The phrasing is humorous - even though the saying itself hints that some challenges are just too big to overcome. For many people, the massive shortage of talent with vital digital technology skills, is seen as exactly that kind of challenge.

I look at the situation from a distinct angle. My job at VMware is expressly to do something about the talent shortage. The group I am privileged to lead, the VMware IT Academy, has already been helping to close the skills gap by providing professional skills education programs for years. And it isn’t only VMware doing this. Technology companies of all sizes are invested in helping reduce the talent shortage as a way of giving back to the community.

Bridging the gap between education and business to build future-proof skills

At IT Academy we recognise the immense potential of public-private partnerships to shrink the skills gap in a way that neither could alone. Our model is to empower educational institutions to teach relevant, in-demand digital skills to their students. The institutions are already laying the educational foundation.

What we bring to the table is the expertise and resources that enable institutions to provide training for highly specific skills that are needed in the workforce immediately. With a well-rounded education and job-ready skills, the learners can then engage as an inclusive global community and lead positive change.

To give you an idea of how this works, we can look at one of our partners, eForHum, a professional training and coaching organisation based in Milan, Italy. eForHum partnered with us to not only provide area businesses with the virtualisation and cloud talent they need, but also prepare students for lucrative long-term employment as virtualisation and cloud computing experts.

They do this by leveraging our VMware software, courses and certifications in their training offerings.

Investing in skills: from an interest in ICT to a full-time job as a programmer

One such student is Giorgio, a learner from Milan. When he was 11 years old, he bought his first server on eBay. The young man dedicated himself to IT studies by attending an ICT higher secondary school. During his last year of school, he discovered the VMware IT Academy, and it changed his life.

As he put it:

“Without IT Academy, today I would probably be a programmer, because that is what is taught most at school. If I hadn’t gotten that opportunity, I don’t think I’d have found my way. I have always been very curious, and I had a real passion for IT. VMware IT Academy and eForHum gave me the opportunity to shape it and help me find my passion and it was the right path.”

IT Academy currently supports 500+ academic institutions across the European Union with our program resources.

If you would like to learn more about IT Academy and our approach to reducing the shortage of skilled IT professionals, we invite you to join us here.

About the author

Vincent Herreman is a proud father, happy husband, eager learner and natural leader. He’s on a mission to expand his circle of influence and help all those within. Professionally he has done so since 2001, first in service delivery and later on in academic program management. For VMware he helps academic institutions prepare their students for future jobs by offering them relevant resources like software, course content and certification access.