Riyadh - VMware’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pat Gelsinger has visited Prince Sultan University (PSU) to attend the VMware Academy graduation ceremony of Prince Sultan University Education for Employment program (E4E), where he was received by Rector of the University Dr. Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Yamani.
During the visit, an agreement was signed to continue to develop the partnership, including the establishment of a women's section of the Academy.
The visit of the CEO highlighted VMware’s commitment to continue to partner with the University’s (E4E) program to develop the skills of the young generation and to meet the growing needs of the digital labor market in the Kingdom.
The VMware Academy, which is one of the eight academies of the Prince Sultan University Education for Employment (E4E) program, was established in 2017 with the aim of qualifying unemployed Saudi graduates. This week, it celebrates the graduation of the first batch of (33) trainees in Data Center Virtualization technology (vSphere v6.5).
Under the partnership, VMware will continue to provide professionally oriented curricula according to the needs of the program to prepare certified consultants ready to enter the digital labor market in the Kingdom. In keeping with the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which has made women's participation in the labor market an essential pillar of economic reform, the two parties agreed to allocate half of the Academy's training seats to women in the future.
As part of the VMware CEO's visit, Prince Sultan University (E4E) program also celebrated the enrollment of 25 consultants who completed the VMware Academy program on the labor market.
VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger said on the sidelines of the event, "Today we are celebrating a true embodiment of technology as a force for good. Young graduates in the Kingdom who possess entrepreneurial spirit deserve to have their potential harnessed to prepare them for a digital future. As Saudi Arabia continues on its upward trajectory to achieving Vision 2030, skills in technologies such as cloud, networking and security and enterprise mobility will empower its new workforce"
Notably, more than 75 percent of students who gained VMware’s certification found employment within two months of completing the course, benefiting from the company’s close relationships with channel partners and customers.
Emphasizing that technology companies had a critical role to play in education in the Kingdom, preparing the country’s citizens for work amid a fast-changing technological landscape.
Dr. Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Yamani, Rector of Prince Sultan University said: “this unique partnership with VMware will support the Saudi leap towards the digital future, opening the door for a promising future for university graduates”.
He added: “this initiative underscores VMware’s commitment to bring the latest technological innovation into the Saudi market, that will enable robust growth in the private and public sectors.”
After signing the agreement, the PSU Rector and CEO of VMware held a press conference at the University in which they answered questions about the program, the future development prospects, and the partnership between the University and VMware.