The Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary TD, joined Microsoft last week as it launched its national Artificial Intelligence (AI) skilling programme.
The tech giant said the programme is the central part of its plan to ‘Skill Up Ireland,’ helping to ensure that every person and organisation is ready and equipped for an AI future.
The three new programmes provide access to industry recognised certificates for adult learners, including in Generative AI, and Microsoft Dream Space certificates for student learners.
Introduction to AI
The first of the new initiatives announced by Microsoft is a bespoke 6-week 'Introduction to AI' course that will be delivered through live virtual sessions.
The free course is available to anyone over 18 and is designed to help equip those with little or no understanding of AI with the foundational knowledge, skills and competencies they need to engage more confidently with the current and emerging applications of AI.
Learners who complete the course will receive a digital badge and they can also take an exam and earn a Professional Certificate upon passing.
Skills for Jobs
The second initiative announced today is 'Skills for Jobs' which has been designed to help graduates and those currently in the workplace to advance their digital and AI skills so they can participate fully in an AI-enabled economy.
The initiative offers new courses and provides access to eight Professional Certificates to help people learn the foundational skills and relevant hard and soft skills needed for in-demand tech and tech-enabled jobs.
Within the offering there is a dedicated AI learning pathway where learners can improve their AI fluency and achieve a Professional Certificate in Generative AI.
This programme will be delivered in partnership with Fastrack into Information Technology.
Microsoft Dream Space
The third initiative will be the expansion of the Microsoft Dream Space digital skills offering for primary and post-primary students.
Every student now engaging with Dream Space will learn about the fundamentals of AI. This will cover content that looks at how it is created to where it applies in their everyday lives and the opportunities and challenges that come with it including ethical and responsible AI.
In addition, early next year a new series of Dream Space TV with lessons created to ensure AI literacy will be made available to almost 1,000,000 students, as well as their teachers, across the island of Ireland.
Dream Space certificates will be issued to students who complete the lesson series.
'Exciting AI Future'
“By rolling out our new AI learning programmes, we are empowering people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences to gain the analytical, creative thinking and technical skills that are necessary to participate fully in an AI-enabled economy," said James O’Connor, Microsoft Ireland Site Leader and Vice-President Microsoft Global Operations Service Centre.
"Through these efforts and our significant investment in skills more broadly we want to play our part in helping to Skill-Up Ireland for an exciting AI future.”
Source: www.businessworld.ie
