UiPath is rolling out courses in response to the growing global demand for robotic process automation skills.
Three Irish educational institutions are among 1,000 global organisations and universities that are now offering courses in robotic process automation (RPA) to meet increasing demand for skilled professionals in this space.
NUI Galway, TU Dublin and the UiPath-backed School of Automation in Limerick have joined a global cohort including the University of Oxford in offering RPA courses through UiPath’s Academic Alliance programme.
The programme covers the skills needed to identify processes that should be automated using RPA and helps participants learn to deploy the technology.
RPA is a software-based technology that makes it easy to build and manage software ‘robots’ that can help automate mundane, repetitive tasks. The RPA market is growing fast and Gartner has predicted that global software revenue will reach nearly $2bn this year.
With UiPath’s Academic Alliance, university partners around the world gain access to its RPA educational resources, with courses, software for students and educators, and access to UiPath’s global network of RPA professionals.
“We envision a world in which humanity is unburdened of repetitive tasks and freed to embrace more creative, strategic and fulfilling work,” Tom Clancy, senior VP of learning at UiPath, said.
“The future of work is already here, and demand for RPA skills creates an incredible opportunity for students and professionals everywhere to develop their talents in automation through education and become valuable employees and decision-makers.”
The rise of automation
According to a Deloitte report on automation, 78pc of organisations are already implementing RPA while a further 16pc are planning to make use of the technology within the next five years.
Some of the UK universities signed up to UiPath’s alliance include the University of Oxford’s Department of Continuing Education, Kingston University, Loughborough University, BPP University and City University of London.
Along with other government bodies, organisations and not-for-profits, UiPath said it has educated more than 245,000 students and professionals on automation in 63 countries in two years.
“As demand for automation skills grows, we are committed to supporting the creation of a strong and diverse ecosystem of talent by addressing the shortage of automation skills,” School of Automation CEO Marc Cooper said.
“We do so by fast-tracking young people in the UK and Ireland into sustainable future employment in the growing automation sector.”
UiPath is one of the big names in RPA. The company, which was founded in Romania and is now headquartered in the US, went public earlier this year through an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
