Unveiling the new Microsoft Datacenter Academy labs in Sweden
Microsoft strives to create inclusive economic opportunity. In communities where we operate our datacenters, it’s important to develop a strong, technically-skilled, and diverse local workforce, and facilitating community education and job readiness for 21st-century employment are key priorities. The Datacenter Academy (DCA) program, in partnership with local education partners, furthers these priorities through scholarships, assistance with curriculum, server donations, mentorship, and employee volunteerism.
Datacenter Academy locations include: Amsterdam, Netherlands; Cape Town, South Africa; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Des Moines, Iowa; Dublin, Ireland; Gävle, Sweden; Hoorn, Netherlands; Moses Lake, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona; San Antonio, Texas; South Boston, Virginia; South Hill, Virginia; and Sandviken, Sweden.
The Gävle and Sandviken communities in Sweden recently celebrated the dedication of two new cloud datacenter teaching labs as part of their local Datacenter Academy. In Gävle, Polhemsskolan unveiled its new lab in front of local media, school staff, and community members. The Gefle Dagblad (The Daily of Gävle) remarked in the article “Small server hall gives hope about the big one,” “…the American company [Microsoft] has begun cooperation with both Gävle and Sandviken on training staff around the data centers that are currently being built at three locations in Gästrikland. On Tuesday, the server hall in Polhemsskolan was inaugurated.”
The Gävle Polhemsskolan students utilize the lab as part of their three-year gymnasium or high school education. After completing their studies, the students will enter the workforce or continue their higher-level education studies. Some of these students will pursue technology careers, including datacenter operations in addition to other computer related fields.
Likewise in neighboring Sandviken, students, staff, and media came together to dedicate the Sandbacka Park Datacenter Academy training lab. As part of the Sandviken celebration, school staff members hosted a roundtable conversation with students and local Microsoft datacenter staff about the importance of digital skills education for the local community.
Mattias Ersson, campus director for the Sweden datacenters, attended on behalf of Microsoft and shared the excitement of the lab opening. Mattias offered the following perspective: “We want to invest in local skills. In order to do this, we partner with local trainers, which in this case is the municipality and Sandviken’s CVL. Later on, we will work with mentoring and guest lectures and in the end we want to be able to offer employment to those who have attended the courses.”
The Sandbacka Park IT training programs utilizing the donated datacenter equipment started this fall with 35 adult education students.