SENA modernizes Colombia’s ICT workforce, boosts talent cloud skills with AWS Tech Alliance

More than 25,000 instructors help SENA provide educational opportunities for millions of Colombians. As a public organization, its mission is to ensure that Colombia has the skills it needs in every industry to be a competitive force in the world. SENA’s challenge is to ensure that educational programs align with the changing requirements of the labor market and to provide qualified training, technicians, technologies, and courses that improve graduates’ job readiness.

ICT skills are in high demand in Colombia, but with employers struggling to fill around 75 percent of IT positions, especially entry-level roles, SENA needed to improve its curriculum, work competence standards, and practical training. “Analyzing the skills required to enter the workforce is essential for our programs to be relevant and increase student employability,” says Triana. “We wanted to work with AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance because of its comprehensive skill maps, industry-leading cloud expertise, and connections with AWS partners and customers.”

AWS Tech Alliance is a global coalition that addresses the skills gap and prepares students for the most in-demand technology jobs, improving their employability. It combines the collaborative power of employers, educational institutions and training providers, and governments. When AWS Tech Alliance launched in Colombia in February 2024, SENA was eager to collaborate, especially in the integration of cloud skills into training programs and the development of new standards for junior positions in the fields of data analysis and software development.

In collaboration with AWS Tech Alliance, SENA began to modernize its labor competence standards. These define the skills needed to perform specific roles across industries and form the basis of SENA’s training programs and competency assessments. “AWS Tech Alliance provides valuable information on skills gaps in the ICT sector,” says Triana. “With growing demand for junior technical positions, we focused on entry-level roles in software development and data analysis, and created 6 standards for each one.”

SENA collaborated with AWS experts to develop the 12 new standards. It used AWS Tech Alliance skill maps, gap analysis, and research. A key part of this process was a roundtable organized by AWS Tech Alliance, where employers provided information on skills by function and key indicators to measure performance. “Our collaboration with AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance has been transformative,” says Triana. “Using AWS Tech Alliance skill maps, we have modernized our labor competence standards and made sure they reflect the industry’s current needs for data analysis and software development. Plus, they can be used beyond SENA by other educational institutions, including those reporting to the Ministry of Education.”

With the updated standards, SENA’s next step was to implement these in its vocational education and training programs. As a member of the AWS Academy since 2021, SENA had access to its free, ready-to-teach cloud computing curriculum. AWS Tech Alliance organized workshops with SENA instructors to help them familiarize themselves with AWS Academy resources. In addition, through applied learning events, using immersive role-playing game simulations from AWS Cloud Quest and gamified classes from AWS Jam, students gain hands-on experience emulating real AWS use cases. SENA has taught more than 40 classes and labs integrated into the AWS Academy Cloud Foundations and Cloud Security Foundations courses. “To date, this has given more than 700 students the opportunity to develop a variety of skills related to the AWS Cloud,” says Triana.

In addition to skills development, AWS Tech Alliance organizes events such as the 2024 job fair in collaboration with the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, Invest In Bogota, and the Bogotá Secretariat of Economic Development. This meeting brought together 1,400 students from SENA and other local institutions and 120 potential employers offering more than 500 ICT positions. Events such as these help close the skills gap and connect employers in Colombia with students and graduates trained in the cloud.

“AWS Tech Alliance events have provided us with the opportunity to interact with future talent,” says Fabiola Céspedes, Latin America talent acquisition xDC lead at SoftwareOne, a cloud solutions specialist. “It’s a chance to share SoftwareOne’s vision and values, and strengthen our commitment to the development of the next generation of technology leaders.” Giovanna Rueda, a software analysis and development student at SENA, who attended a Skills to Jobs Developer Challenges event, says, “My experience participating in the AWS Tech Alliance and CodeSignal event was very rewarding and helped me identify areas in which I need to improve. It was also great to connect with an important company in the technology sector such as SoftwareOne. I learned a lot.” Giovanna is one of a number of young professionals who have been empowered by connecting with SoftwareOne in the AWS Tech Alliance program.

ICT skills are in high demand in Colombia, as the sector continues to grow rapidly: its value is estimated to reach 35 billion dollars in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.6 percent. By collaborating with AWS Tech Alliance, SENA keeps its curriculum updated and adapted to industry requirements, so that employers can find the talent they need more quickly and easily. Fernando Arciniegas, deputy director of the Trade and Services Center, says, “For SENA at the national level, in the department of Caldas and the city of Manizales, the alliance with AWS has been fundamental. We’re providing our apprentices with cutting-edge training in the cloud, a critical skill that not only radically improves their employability but also strengthens the region’s technological ecosystem and responds to the needs of local companies committed to digital transformation.”

Triana continues, citing the impact of SENA’s AWS Tech Alliance collaboration on both graduates and the workforce: “Working with AWS Tech Alliance isn’t just about updating standards—it’s about transforming Colombia’s workforce and positioning our country at the forefront of technological innovation in Latin America. This update will affect millions of students in Colombia, improving their employability and preparing them for the digital economy.”