OutSystems announces new initiatives to address skill gap challenge

OutSystems has announced that it is expanding its Developer Education Program to close the skills gap in development and technology.

A primary component of the OutSystems push to accelerate its education efforts is a significant focus on communities that have been overlooked and underrepresented in software development and technology. This includes women, black people, and transgender and gender non-confirming individuals, among others. To aid in creating opportunities for these groups, OutSystems has announced partnerships with Women Who Code (WWCode), Blacks In Technology, and the Australian Computer Society (ACS) to launch programmes and sponsorships:

Women Who Code is a non-profit organisation, offering a scholarship for women who want to embark on a new career in tech. These coding scholarships are designed for women who are transitioning into tech and software development while providing a supportive community, mentorship and career opportunities.

We're excited to share today at #OSDevCon that we are expanding our Developer Education Program and partnering with @WomenWhoCode, @blkintechnology and @ACSnewsfeed! ? Find out more about each partnership and our goals with the program here: https://t.co/z5NNGnnJm8 pic.twitter.com/CzW15BpnHc

— OutSystems (@OutSystems) November 18, 2021

Blacks In Technology is a global platform for the promotion and inclusion of black women and men in tech. This platform offers new CompTIA scholarships which provide opportunities for black individuals wanting to enter into tech or advance their career around IT. The CompTIA scholarships include certifications such as A+ for infrastructure and hardware, Security Plus for cybersecurity, Network + for networking and more.

“Investing in education is an investment in the future,” said Dennis Schultz, executive director of the Blacks In Technology Foundation. “While we’re looking to bring opportunity to the individuals who we work with, programs like this also cause positive ripple effects in underrepresented communities and in the developer community. We all benefit from greater diversity in software development, and we’re excited to empower more students through this partnership with OutSystems.”

The Australian Computer Society is working on a scholarship programme with a goal of encouraging transgender and non-binary people to discover more opportunities in the tech sector and gain new skills. This programme is designed to allow for flexibility, enabling individuals to pursue areas of study that are most interesting to them in a safe and welcoming environment.

“We’re accelerating our education-focused initiatives to support the industry-wide developer shortage, with a specific focus on traditionally underrepresented communities. The world will be a better and more equitable place when diversity and development combine. We all have work to do to create a more diverse, inclusive and vibrant developer community,” said Paulo Rosado, CEO and founder of OutSystems.

To date, OutSystems has donated software licenses valued at over $10m – partnering with over 2,300 universities across 40 countries, training over 58,000 students who completed nearly 68,000 online courses that resulted in the creation of more than 9,000 personal environments and close to 6,500 apps built.

In addition, OutSystems has built a global community of more than 500,000 developers to foster ongoing collaboration and mentorship.

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