Mexico is experiencing a boom in the data center market, but there is a shortage of specialized talent, which is why a couple of organizations joined efforts to provide scholarships for young engineers.
Revenues in the country’s data center market will continuously increase over the next four years by $600 million, reaching $4.15 billion in 2027, which speaks to the economic opportunity the nation has in this sector, according to with data from Statista.
From the most important technology companies such as Google, Microsoft or Amazon, to multinational Mexican companies such as KIO Networks, they have an important data center infrastructure deployed in Mexico.
For this reason, the Mexican Association of Data Centers (MEXDC) together with DCD Academy, the main global provider of training and learning services for the data center industry, launched the Data Center Talent Scholarship in Mexico “with the objective of attract newly graduated engineers or senior students from the areas of industrial, electromechanical and manufacturing engineering,” according to a joint statement.
20 scholarships to train specialists in data centers
The Data Center Talent Scholarship will offer 20 young people the opportunity to specialize in the Data Center industry under the e-learning format on the DCD Academy virtual platform.
These are the DCT (Data Center Technician) courses to train as facilities management technicians, and The Business of Data Centers, which will provide an overview of the data center industry and may be open to non-technical professionals.
“The selected young people will have the possibility of doing paid internships in the MEXDC’s associated companies in colocation data centers, those that host other clients’ servers,” reported the MEXDC.
A total investment of $73,900 or $3,695 per support was allocated to create the scholarships, according to DCD Academy.
“According to World Bank estimates, by 2027 there will be a global talent gap specialized in Information Technology of approximately 10 million people, which requires young people with diverse skills and knowledge in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence , Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, as well as coding and programming; These capacities will be crucial in the digital transformation”, they stated.
For young Mexicans to apply for one of the 20 Beca Talento Data Center scholarships, candidates may submit their application through forms on the MEXDC and DCD Academy portals. Once the application is received, a selection committee will choose the scholarship recipients, with special attention to the incorporation of female talent.
“Subsequently, and after being granted the scholarship, the training will begin, which, upon completion, will give way to the start of the internship. The application period begins today, August 21, and will end until all the scholarships are awarded,” the responsible organizations specified.
José Friebel, general director of DCD Academy for Spain and Latin America, explained that the strategy seeks to reduce the talent deficit of qualified professionals in the sector: “At DCD Academy we have the necessary technical infrastructure and the already articulated academic offer, so that we understood that we could – and should – play a key role in activating a broader and more ambitious plan that allows us to provide the data center industry with the personnel it will need in the imminent future”.
Adriana Rivera, executive director of the MEXDC, explained that the scholarship seeks to meet the challenge of talent with IT skills in the country through a specialized commission, taking into account that the SEP warned that in Mexico a great deficit of engineers is estimated by 2025, and that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ensures that currently only 27 out of 100 men and eight out of 100 women who enter the university in the country do so to study engineering.
Source: Forbes
