SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly Extended Education has entered a partnership with two statewide programs to further an initiative to deliver cybersecurity and cloud skills training from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to upskill and reskill the current and future workforce of California through training collaborations, targeting communities and corporations across the state.

Cal Poly Extended Education will work with the Cal Poly California Cybersecurity Institute (CCI), UpSkill California, and California’s Employment Training Panel (ETP) to implement this new initiative. UpSkill California and ETP are statewide programs focused on the upskilling and reskilling of workers through training and support to employers.

“Throughout California and particularly along the Central Coast, employers are in urgent need of skilled workers capable of filling head-of-household jobs,” said Robert Meyer, director of economic development at ETP. “This training partnership led by Cal Poly and funded through ETP will help California workers gain cutting edge job skills that will help them establish next generation careers, launch businesses of their own and keep California on the leading edge of innovation.”

Dianna Previs, director of programming at Cal Poly Extended Education, said “There is a growing need for skilled cybersecurity and cloud talent. Through this initiative, organizations can strengthen and grow their current and future workforce through hands-on training focused on a variety of cybersecurity, cloud optimization, digital literacy and technical topics. Cal Poly CCI’s partnership with UpSkill California provides a unique opportunity to upskill and reskill the state’s cloud talent through trainings from AWS that target communities and corporations across the state.”

Cal Poly announced in October that it had joined the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) Training Partner Program, which enables authorized instructors at the university to deliver training developed by AWS. Today’s news is the next step in this partnership.

As an AWS training partner, Cal Poly’s CCI will provide AWS training to public sector organizations, small-to-medium sized businesses, larger corporations and professionals. The trainings consist of six separate course offerings that each take three days to complete. The courses include developing, system operations, architecting, security engineering, big data and data warehousing — all on AWS. These trainings are designed to provide students an opportunity to broaden their technical skill set and portfolio. Now students and professionals have the opportunity to participate in hands-on training focused on a variety of cybersecurity, cloud optimization, digital literacy and technical topics. 

“As cloud technologies continue to help organizations transform their businesses at a rapid pace, employees with the necessary cloud skills — and increasingly, cybersecurity skills — are in high demand,” said Maureen Lonergan, director of AWS Training and Certification. “The AWS Partner Network Training Partner Program is designed for organizations like Cal Poly that have a proven and reliable history in technical training to help train the cloud talent we need today and in the future.” 

CCI is initially piloting this unique AWS Training Program with two UpSkill California community colleges, El Camino College and College of the Canyons. Cal Poly aims to include all 29 of the UpSkill California community colleges within three years of the pilot’s launch and add a full range of AWS courses, broadening the reach of their training efforts. 

For more information and to sign up for training visit https://extended.calpoly.edu/ or click here.

About Cal Poly California Cybersecurity Institute (CCI)
The CCI serves as a public, private and academic partnership to enhance the state of California’s cybersecurity response capability. Through research, education and workforce development, the CCI teaches current and future Californians how to protect the state, decreasing the current 67,195 unfilled cybersecurity positions in California. The CCI is a strategic partnership between the California Army National Guard, California Office of Emergency Services, California Highway Patrol and Cal Poly. www.cci.calpoly.edu

About Employment Training Panel (ETP)
The ETP has proven to be the Golden State’s premier program supporting job creation and retention through training. ETP fulfills its mission by reimbursing the cost of employer customized job skills training for new and existing workers and funding the types of training needed by unemployed workers re-entering the workforce. www.etp.ca.gov

About Upskill California
Upskill California is a proven community college network delivering statewide employer-driven workforce training programs. Employees at any stage in their careers can access these programs leading to career advancement and higher wages. www.elcaminobtc.com/collaborative/

About Cal Poly Extended Education
Cal Poly Extended Education delivers high-quality innovative academic programs, technical education and professional training programs to enable the regional workforce to reskill and upskill in today’s technology-driven marketplace. extended.calpoly.edu

Contact: Makenna Downing
Cal Poly California Cybersecurity Institute  
714-333-5034; Madownin@calpoly.edu