Building pathways to datacenter careers at the Busan Datacenter Academy
On January 9, 2025, Microsoft signed a business agreement with Mayor Hyung-Joon Park to establish the Busan Datacenter Academy. The technical training program will offer free courses focused on cloud computing and datacenter skills, providing a pathway to IT careers for local students.
Creating opportunities for technical careers
The Busan Datacenter Academy is a workforce development program, provided in partnership with the Busan Information Industry Promotion Agency and Korea Polytechnic University, Busan Campus. The Academy—scheduled to open by the end of 2025—will help students build the technical skills they need to work in cloud computing, IT, and critical environment roles.
Microsoft is collaborating with Korea Polytechnic University to develop the Datacenter Academy curriculum, which builds on existing IT programs to include specialized training for IT roles within large-scale environments like hyperscale cloud datacenters. The Datacenter Academy will feature free educational courses, hands-on training using industry-standard datacenter equipment donated by Microsoft, and opportunities for mentorship and internships at local Microsoft datacenters. While the curriculum has a datacenter focus, the training and certifications offered will prepare graduates for careers in the broader IT and cloud computing sector.
For more details, visit the Microsoft Datacenter Academy page.
Developing a skilled workforce for IT and cloud computing opportunities
The Datacenter Academy highlights a shared commitment between Microsoft and the city of Busan to nurture local talent for the growing IT sector. Mayor Park emphasized that the partnership with Microsoft would help “bring about the revitalization of the overall information technology industry, such as local eco-friendly datacenters … and in particular, it will be an important turning point in fostering local talents and creating jobs.”
The Datacenter Academy is also part of the Microsoft Datacenter Community Pledge, committing to build and operate datacenters responsibly and deliver benefits to the community. By equipping students with the skills needed to access jobs in the IT and cloud computing sector, the Academy helps advance community prosperity. Aditya Dalmia, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft, commented, “As the demand for local cloud services increases, Microsoft is expanding its infrastructure based on the principle of being a good neighbor to the local community. The establishment of the Datacenter Academy in Busan will be a great opportunity for Microsoft to positively contribute to the local economy and ecosystem and promote digital transformation.”