IBM to offer tech skills training with U of Louisville

Another corporate-university partnership is underway that is designed to produce high-tech workers for a region experts say is lagging in those fields, in this case between IBM and the University of Louisville, The Courier-Journal reported.The IBM Skills Academy, slated to open this fall in the university's new Center for Digital Transformation, will offer faculty training, as well as courses in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cybersecurity, data science and quantum computing for university credit or IBM digital credentials. IBM expects to launch three similar skills academies elsewhere in the U.S. At U of Louisville, the program has an estimated value of $5 million per year and includes the use of cloud technology and software. It is open to students across the university. Skills-based, boot camp-style training is growing in popularity as a way to help colleges that are struggling to attract new students and keep their curriculum up to date with rapid, technology-driven changes across industries.Evidence of that can be found in recent moves by online program managers (OPMs) to snatch up these companies and add them to the stack of services they offer their institutional clients. So far this year, Zovio (formerly Bridgepoint) bought boot camp provider Fullstack Academy and 2U snagged Trilogy, which partners with universities to run skills training programs.