Amazon has established a new academy in Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the kingdom’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. The academy, operated by the Saudi Digital Academy and the Tuwaiq Academy, is designed to support Saudi Arabia’s human capital program for the digital economy and aims to train over 30,000 citizens, provide 35,000 certificates, and offer 100 internships by 2025. The investment details of the academy have not been disclosed.
The academy will align with the Ministry’s skills program and capacity goals for the kingdom, as it looks to diversify its economy through technology as part of its Vision 2030 strategy. The global digital transformation market is projected to reach $3.95 trillion by 2030, and empowering individuals with the necessary skills to succeed in a digital world is deemed critical by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The curriculum of the Amazon Academy has been designed by Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing division, as well as its customer experience and operations teams. The training programs will combine virtual self-paced modules, in-classroom sessions, and hands-on workshops to deliver a comprehensive education. The courses covered will include cloud architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, end-to-end customer fulfilment, last-mile logistics, and entrepreneurship.
The academy aims to support the kingdom’s ambitions of creating local talent to achieve the goals of Vision 2030, said Faris Alsaqabi, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Future Jobs and Capabilities. He noted that Saudi Arabia has the largest technology and innovation market in the region, and is among the 10 fastest-growing countries in digital content and commerce.
