A First of Its Kind IT Apprenticeship Program
The Pacific Center for Advanced Technology Training (PCATT) in partnership with DevLeague and the State of Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) will develop and deliver training for the first of its kind “ITWorks”, a State of Hawai‘i IT Apprenticeship Program. The purpose is to create a public-private partnership to broaden the use of American Apprenticeship Initiative grants in developing a highly skilled workforce able to meet the local information Technology (IT) needs, while also offering U.S. workers access to training and career advancement.
PCATT is a consortium of the University of Hawai‘i Community Colleges responsible for collaborating with industry to develop and provide leadership and training in advanced technology which enhances educational and workforce development programs and initiatives in the State of Hawai‘i and the Pacific Rim. The center, which also manages Honolulu Community College’s continuing education and lifelong learning programs, collaborates with other UH System entities to develop non-credit activities that lead into credit pathways. DevLeague is Hawai‘i’s first and only web development coding academy.
In the Hawai‘i IT Apprenticeship Program, the targeted occupations are computer programmer, computer systems analyst, database administrator, and data/science analyst. Targeted curriculum will be programming/coding, data sciences, and database administration.
“As technology and business requirements rapidly change, it is not only what you know that is important, but also how fast you can learn,” said Steve Auerbach, director of PCATT. “The State of Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations will utilize the innovation elements, identified by the U.S. Department of Labor, and best practices to create an ecosystem of technologists, strategies and resources for a new Registered IT Apprenticeship Program in Hawai‘i.”
Registered Apprenticeship is a unique, flexible training system that combines paid and on-the-job learning and related technical and theoretical instruction in a skilled occupation to enable employers to develop and apply industry standards to training programs that can increase productivity and improve the quality of the workforce.
The IT Apprenticeship Program, which targets the unemployed, incumbent workers and underrepresented populations, is expected to serve 300 apprentices, including 100 incumbent workers and 90 underrepresented participants.