June 2018 Top Blog Roundup

Listen now on SoundCloud: AWS Public Sector Podcast: Ep. 8. June Roundup | A ‘cloud major’ is a thing, kids build Alexa Skills too & more

School’s out for the summer for most students. And still, AWS Educate was top of mind for our readers. Learn about one of the first cloud computing degrees offered at community colleges, Alexa’s new badge, and a new Machine Learning Pathway available for AWS Educate members.

Check out our top five posts from June, and listen as AWS Educate Content & Research lead, Shanika Hope, fills in the details on the AWS Public Sector Podcast.

1.  Major in the Cloud: NOVA and AWS Announce First Cloud Computing Degree

Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), in collaboration with AWS Educate, announced a Cloud Computing specialization as part of its Information Systems Technology (IST) Associate of Applied Science degree starting in Fall 2018. The program will be one of the first cloud computing degrees in the nation offered by a community college. Read more.

2.    The Alexa Badge for AWS Educate is Now Available

An Amazon Alexa badge with 10-15 hours of dedicated Alexa skills training is now available through AWS Educate. Alexa is Amazon’s voice service and the brain behind tens of millions of devices like Echo Show and Echo Spot. Alexa provides capabilities, known as “skills,” that enable developers to create a more personalized experience for their products and build natural voice experiences that offer consumers a more intuitive way to interact with the technology they use every day. There are now tens of thousands of skills from companies like Starbucks, Uber, and Capital One, as well as other innovative designers and developers. Read more.

3.    AWS Educate Releases New Machine Learning Pathway

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and deep learning are cutting-edge technologies that are changing and enhancing many of our daily tasks from natural language processing and self-driving cars to enhanced data mining and medical informatics. But what do these terms mean, and how can we use these technologies? Read more.

4.    Opportunity@Work and AWS Educate Accelerate Career Opportunities for a Diverse Talent Pool

Opportunity@Work, a nonprofit social enterprise, is aiming to empower individuals and enable more Americans to work, learn, and reach their full potential. Opportunity@Work has launched TechHire.Careers, a new kind of recruiting platform built specifically to help employers fill entry-level tech positions with talented individuals from diverse backgrounds with the help of AWS Educate. Read more.

5.    Announcing the 2018 City on a Cloud Winners – Congratulations!

AWS announced the winners of the 2018 AWS City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge at the AWS Public Sector Summit in Washington, DC. The City on a Cloud Innovation Challenge encourages cities, counties, universities, and organizations serving underserved populations to look to the cloud as they work to make the world a better place. From STEM-based collaboration to disaster recovery, this year’s winners have big plans for the cloud. Read more.

Tune into a recent podcast interview with AWS Educate head, Ken Eisner, as he discusses how the program introduces computer science to students as young as 14 years old.