Microsoft is announcing it has helped over 30 million people in 249 countries and territories acquire digital skills. Out of this, over one million learners across Africa participated in the Microsoft Global Skills program.
The global skills initiative offers free online courses across Microsoft, LinkedIn, and GitHub learning platforms. It seeks to help people, mostly those affected by the pandemic gain in-demand skills to be employable.
Across the Middle East and Africa region, 2.1 million learners have participated in the program. With software development, customer service, project manager and data analysis being the popular learning paths among learners.
The top 10 countries with learners across Africa are South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Comoros, Sao tome and Principe, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles and the Central African Republic are countries with less than 500 learners.
To get more Africans to acquire digital skills, Microsoft is also partnering with organizations and governments. Offering additional funding and services to make this possible where this is necessary.
Microsoft is extending the free LinkedIn Learning and Microsoft Learn courses and low-cost certifications that align to 10 of the most in-demand jobs offer through 2021.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Over 30.7 million people across the globe have participated in the free Microsoft global digital skills initiative. The company says this sharing an update on the initiative’s progress nine months on.
An increase from the 10 million reached in September last year and surpasses the planned target of 25 million. It also sees the number of participating countries increased from 231 countries and territories to 249.
The United States, India, Brazil, United Kingdom, Mexico, Poland, France, Germany, Canada and Spain account for the to 10 countries with learners.
Microsoft says it is ready to launch the next phase of the project after learning from it. The next phase will see Microsoft help 250,000 companies make a skills-based hire in 2021.
The company announced the Global Skills initiative program at a time when the world was grappling with a pandemic that saw millions of lives affected globally. Microsoft gave people the opportunity to acquire in-demand digital skills across Microsoft Learn, LinkedIn, and GitHub learning platforms.
Among learners, popular courses have been for roles in software development, customer service and data analysts according to Microsoft.
Microsoft is extending the free LinkedIn Learning and Microsoft Learn courses and low-cost certifications that align to 10 of the most in-demand jobs offer through 2021.
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The initiative will will focus on training women and girls in software development, product design, product management, data science and AI engineering, and cybersecurity.
The Women Techsters initiative is opened to girls and women aged 16 to 40 years in the 54 African Countries. However, the program is launching in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa. With plans to scale the initiative to girls and women in more African countries later.
The training will be delivered through a series of simultaneous activities such as; bootcamps, open days, masterclasses and fellowships.
Microsoft says the program has been developed in such a way that participants will not only learn and develop deep technical skills. But they can fill knowledge gaps, learn coding skills and jumpstart their careers.
Prior to the launch, Microsoft piloted the initiative with Tech4dev in Nigeria called the Nigeria Women Techsters. Fatima Ahmed a participant in the Tech4Dev Nigerian Women Techsters program says; I thought I was just coming to learn new skills and go back to apply for jobs. But during the training, I started getting job opportunities. Today, I work as a technical support engineer at Tek Experts, where I provide cloud-based solutions. I am glad I took a bold step to come for the Nigerian Women Techsters training.Read more about her experience and what to expect here.
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Registration for Microsoft Ignite 2021 is opened and it will be a free digital-only event. It will be in the form of a 48 hour long virtual event available across all the time zones. The event will start from 4 PM GMT, 7 PM EAT, 6 PM SAT, March 2nd to March 4th 2021.
The event will have both live segments such as the keynotes and Q&A as well as already recorded content sessions.
To enjoy a total conference experience Microsoft advises you register as most sessions will require you to sign in. Registration will give you the ability to schedule your viewing events or sessions. It is also required to access the full learning experience including session content, attendee networking, and participation in the Cloud Skills Challenge. Others include featured sessions, deep-dives, learning and the connection zone.
However, sessions covered on the hero video such as the keynotes will not require you to be registered.
Featured speakers for the event include Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, Jared Spataro, CVP Microsoft 365, Mitra Azizirad, CVP, Microsoft AI and Innovation Marketing, Scott Hanselman, Partner Program Manager.
Microsoft is introducing a VR/AR experience at Ignite 2021. You can watch the keynote sessions using your mixed reality device. To do this, download AltspaceVR from the Windows Store, Steam Library, and Oculus Stores for Rift/Rift-S and Quest/Quest2. Launch the app and create an account through the Microsoft Account option (only Microsoft-linked accounts will have access to the event). The keynote session will appear in the main menu on the day of the event.
Last year Microsoft announced after Ignite 2020 in September that a digital event will take place in March 2021 and will showcase the latest technical announcements from Microsoft and Microsoft partners. The company also plans to host only digital events till July 2021.
Update February 24, 2021 3:15 PM: Added details on the introduction of a mixed reality keynote experience coming to Microsoft Ignite March digital event.
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Microsoft will celebrate Black History Month with collections of games, movies, tv shows and community events across Xbox and Windows. The company will be offering gaming experiences that highlight the contributions of Black and African American developers and creators.
Through the curation of collections of games, movies and tv shows by Black communities at Microsoft in the Windows and Xbox digital stores. Titles include, ‘Afterparty, Watch Dogs 2, Apex Legends, The Sims 4, Black Panther, Insecure, Hidden Figures and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’.
Microsoft will also raise awareness of causes that matter to Black communities and allow Xbox gamers to earn and donate Microsoft Rewards to organizations supporting Black communities.
These initiatives aren’t just a celebration of inclusion in gaming says Garron Ballard, Global Games Category Manager for Xbox and Windows Digital Stores. They’re also a chance to challenge assumptions around what a gamer or game developer looks like, he adds.
“I grew up playing video games, I’ve always been really interested in science fiction and fantasy. Growing up in an African American family and going to school in spaces where I was really in the minority … I always felt very abnormal,” “There are a lot of people who have preconceived notions of what a Black person is or what a Black person should like.”
Garron Ballard
Minecraft Education Edition is also offering four lessons as a free demo from now till 28th February to anyone to mark the celebrations. The four lessons cover social justice, identity, and civil rights. They are ‘Good Trouble: Black lives matter, Good Trouble US Civil Rights, The “I”in Identity and Who is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’.
Microsoft notes these initiatives are not limited to Black History Month. It says it is part of the inclusion work happening at Microsoft to make gaming for everyone.
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