A new public-private collaboration between the Hawaii public schools, the University of Hawaii and Amazon Web Services has been launched to produce more students with cloud computing skills and create more pathways to jobs.

The program being piloted first at Aiea and Pearl City high schools will give students access to cloud computing education courses that can eventually lead to skill certifications, a state Department of Education news release said. Students will be prepared for internships, apprenticeships and pathways to additional cloud skills training.

The vision is to establish “a workforce talent pipeline from high school through higher education, with a short-term goal of training and certifying 150 learners by 2025,” the news release said.

“The cloud has become the predominant method to rapidly deploy new information systems and services,” UH President David Lassner said in a statement. “We are delighted to enter into this new statewide commitment with AWS, one of the leading cloud service providers in the world, and the Hawaii Department of Education, to plan how we will work together to provide real-world AWS skills and certifications to Hawaii residents and students at all levels across the islands.”

Participating educational institutions will receive no-cost, ready-to-teach cloud computing curriculum that prepares students for industry-recognized Amazon Web Services certifications and jobs. Educators at participating institutions will have access to instructor training. Students also can gain access to self-paced online training courses and labs.

“It gives us a step up above other students and other people going into the workforce,” Xander Engelman, a Pearl City High School senior, said in a statement. “Giving out those certificates allows us to get those jobs and internships that we all want and need.”

The initiative was announced at a news conference Tuesday at Pearl City High School by state Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi, Lassner and Mark Ronaldson, who is sales leader, state and local government, at Amazon Web Services.

More skilled workers are needed as nonprofits, large enterprises and public sector agencies nationwide are increasingly relying on cloud computing technology. In Hawaii there were more than 9,600 unique job postings requiring cloud computing skills between August 2021 and July 2022, according to Emsi, a labor market data company.

“This is an exciting time as we align K-12 education and higher education with workforce development and emerging sectors in Hawaii— such as IT and cloud computing — to ensure our students are the top candidates for high-skill, high-wage, in-demand, and future-focused jobs,” Hayashi said. “We look forward to working together to strengthen our shared commitment in preparing our future leaders for Hawaii’s workforce needs.”