NEWS

This synergy marks a milestone in the collaboration between educational institutions and companies to address the growing demand for professionals in the technology sector. 

Madrid, 19 March 2024.  

The International University of La Rioja (UNIR) together with the Proeduca Group company Qualentum and VASS University are launching two new degrees focused on the development of mobile applications and artificial intelligence.  

This initiative comes at a crucial time for the talent shortage in the technology sector. According to research conducted by Manpower at the end of 2023, 79% of IT companies expect to struggle to fill technology-related vacancies in 2024, a significant increase from previous years. 

In this context, a tripartite agreement has been signed to address new qualified professional profiles. These degrees mark a milestone in the collaboration between educational institutions and companies to address the growing demand for professionals in the technology sector and represent a unique opportunity for those seeking to advance their careers in a constantly evolving field. 

VASS University brings the business experience of its parent company, the leading Spanish digital solutions company VASS. It is responsible for the creation of the training itineraries and the development of educational material for these programmes. In addition, it actively participates in the selection of candidates and teachers, as well as in the delivery of the programmes. 

For its part, UNIR provides a high quality online educational environment, where it supports instructors and will award the corresponding degrees or certifications to students who successfully complete the programmes.  

Finally, Qualentum, the PROEDUCA Group company dedicated to the identification, specialisation and recruitment of talent for large technology companies, is responsible for the dissemination, advertising and selection of students for the employment programmes, as well as all the logistics, guaranteeing specialised training, aligned with the real needs of the labour market.

In response to the high demand for professionals with Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) skills, one of the world's leading Digital Experience Platforms (DXP)VASS University launched an ambitious and innovative course to provide an accelerated and immersive experience in the use of this powerful tool, allowing participants to be trained in the functions of Back-End or Front-End developers.

After a rigorous selection process, in October and November, the 12 best candidates underwent a comprehensive training programme delivered by VASS expert teams, under a practical approach and an online methodology. which allowed for the participation of people from different geographical backgrounds.

Thanks to the support of the VASS Foundation participants did not have to bear any tuition fees. Their support, together with the dedication of our teachers, allowed them not only to acquire knowledge that is highly valued by the market, but also to then become part of a high-level team of more than 120 professionals. working in an international environment.

Alberto Notario, Service Manager at Digital Business Platform, shares his impressions of the course: "This initiative represents a valuable opportunity for people eager to learn, who aspire to build their way into the cutting-edge technology of web portals. After the demanding selection process, the students demonstrated enthusiasm and a remarkable ability to learn and apply their new knowledge in a systematic way".

In the first few weeks, the selected individuals received comprehensive training covering general platform knowledge, before moving on to a more specialised focus on both back-end and front-end aspects. The admirable dedication and progression of the students reaffirms the success of this programme in developing talent for a rapidly evolving digital environment.

After a month and a half of training, seven students, in addition to obtaining a diploma, were given a permanent contract at VASS.They will be integrated into a high-performance team, working on real projects from day one and growing as professionals.

Daniel Martín López, backend developer, one of the students, comments: "The course exceeded my expectations, providing a deep dive into the technology with exceptional instructors who clarify concepts and address individual questions. While I found some aspects, especially those related to databases, challenging, the convenience and clarity of the system is noteworthy. The course's emphasis on component componentization and reuse in AEM is beneficial for managing multiple projects. The direct relationship between back-end and front-end development, along with the incorporation of Java and component-based frameworks, aligns well with the demands of today's job market, catering to my motivation for joining the programme."

Natalia Blanco Outeiral, frontend developer and another student, says: "The Adobe Experience Manager training exceeded my expectations with professional and attentive instructors. The course content is dynamic and engaging, and I sought this training to expand my frontend development skills with a foundation in AEM. My goal is to build a solid foundation in AEM, given its efficient content management and personalised experience capabilities, crucial in today's competitive digital marketplace. In short, training in AEM not only enhances technical skills, but also has strategic relevance in the competitive digital landscape."

In 2024, we are doubling our commitment to this successful initiative with 2 new courses, The first of which will start in April and for which registrations are already open.

Come on, we are waiting for you! You can register here. The second course will start after the summer.

At VASS University we want to offer you once again the best training to become an expert in Back-End or Front-End developer Are you ready to enter into the world of Adobe Experience Manager with this course?

From 1 April to 9 May you will be able to access 120 hours of fully online training that will help you to become a professional in portal development.

As in the previous edition, VASS FOUNDATION will provide 10 grants that will cover 100% of the cost800 euros. Once the course has been passed, the student will not only obtain a diploma accredited by VASS UNIVERSITY, but will also have the opportunity to become part of the VASS team.

In case the student does not join VASS, as compensation, the amount charged will be refunded (100% if he/she has obtained an outstanding grade; 50% if he/she has obtained between 5 and 7 points out of 10).

To apply for one of the scholarships or to register for the course, an interview and a level test will be carried out to check that you have a basic knowledge of Java.

At VASS University we want to offer you the best training to become an expert in the following areas Back-End or Front-End developer Get ready to enter the world of the Adobe Experience Manager with this course!

From 16 October to 21 November you will be able to access 120 hours of fully online training that will help you to become a professional in portal development.

VASS FOUNDATION will provide 12 grants which will cover 100% of the cost800 euros. Once the course has been passed, the student will not only obtain a diploma accredited by VASS UNIVERSITY, but will also have the opportunity to become part of the VASS team.

In case the student does not join VASS, as compensation, the amount charged will be refunded (100% if he/she has obtained an outstanding grade; 50% if he/she has obtained between 5 and 7 points out of 10).

To apply for one of the scholarships or to register for the course, an interview and a level test will be carried out to check that you have a basic knowledge of Java.

VASS UNIVERSTITY offers training from the entire VASS ecosystem, providing our members with a wide range of courses and possibilities for personal and professional development, through learning routes that are shaped as a gymnasium of knowledge.

Our offering aims to keep you up to date and includes training in technology areas of interest, methodologies and frameworks, behavioural skills and languages. 

The VASS UNIVERSITY community is a living community, a meeting place brought to life by the 18 guilds that bring together the interests of people who form informal teams to share concerns around 18 themes such Agile, Cybersecurity, G.O.D.S (Sustainability), Blockchain, Adobe, Front Development, Appian, Liferay, JAVA or VASS Talks.

With the support of our colleagues in VASS' People & Talent department, we're pursuing three main objectives:

1. To have a global training catalogue accessible to all employees of the VASS Ecosystem in all geographies where we operate. 
2. Create training itineraries that allow for the continuous improvement of the teams, taking into account the global context of our operations and the specific needs of each business area. 
3. Develop our training strategy on a digital platform that allows us to offer members of the VASS community anytime / anywhere access.

In the last few months we've been working to provide VASS UNIVERSITY training experiences online, live streamed and face-to-face. 

• With regard to the online training:

• We've integrated our People & Talent platform with the Udemy catalogue. 
• Our internal training is accessible to all employees. 
• The training we develop in our guilds (technological areas of interest) is up to date and accessible at any time. 

We have all this content accessible at any time and integrated into our People & Talent platform, which allows us to centralise all talent processes in one tool. 

• In our training sessions that are streamed we want to adapt to the new professional reality by taking advantage of the benefits offered by digitalisation and under the SmartWorking modality. All these training activities are organised through our digital platform which is regularly updated. 

• We also complement our entire On Line/ Streaming catalogue with Classroom training, particularly by enhancing the development of softskills.

In terms of content, our training strategy is based on the following five pillars: 

1. IT Training: We promote the development of technical and technological competencies that allow us to train our teams in the latest versions of the technologies most in demand by our clients. 
2. SoftSkills Training: We offer training that allows us to develop our team management skills, customer service and corporate leadership in line with best practices in the market. 
3. IT Certifications: We have agreements with the main manufacturers in the market to provide official training for our teams.
4. Agile Methodologies: Scrum, Kanban, Design Thinking..... This is our to projects and at all levels of the VASS ecosystem. 
5. Languages: Special focus on English as a required key skill in the new global environment. 

Welcome aboard the VASS UNIVERSITY experience!!!

With the deployment of the Recovery Programme Next Generation In the EU, the need to boost high level digital skills among the population became a top priority. In Spain, Autonomous Communities and City Councils have embarked on several actions that the State is trying to complement, something that is not as dynamic and bold as desired, due to bureaucratic restrictions.

Through BOTTEGA UNIVERSITY and with the support of the VASS Foundation, we've participated intensively in this process. In 2021 we were already pioneering support for the Madrid City Council by deploying a selective and immersive training programme in basic programming skills. As part of the pilot of the Municipal School of Digital Talent, 120 people were trained and introduced to the world of programming.

Since the second half of 2022, the Basque Employment Service, LANBIDE, with the support of the VASS Foundation for the Promotion of Digital Talent, has been developing the DEVELOPERS FROM EUSKADI project, an example of public-private collaboration. The challenge? To train 400 vulnerable people (mainly unemployed) so that, in just 6 weeks, they could learn the basics of programming. The programme, called "Coding Foundations", through 60 hours of explanatory videos and interactive activities, provides a broad perspective of the world of software, allowing them to acquire basic knowledge of various programming languages (CSS, HTML, JavaScript...) and by the end of the training, be able to tackle the challenge of programming a simple web page.  

Participants are classified in a ranking, depending on the results obtained. And the 100 best-ranked people would go on to a second phase, where they could participate, from January to October 2023, in a 600-hour "Full Stack" specialisation programme, together with a counselling pilot to integrate them into the world of work.

The challenge was not a trivial one for the Basque Country, which ranks second in Spain in terms of per capita income. For four reasons:

• It was a bilingual programme. Although the English-Spanish methodology allowed access to the original material (English) with subtitles, and contact with specialist mentors in either language, it could be a deterrent for many unemployed people.
• It was an online training, which is not very common in public programmes. Although it could make accessing it easier by removing the need to travel, this methodology requires a dose of discipline that is unfortunately rare.
• It was an unregulated pathway. Although it had valid credits in the USA, it was a non-conventional programme and did not exactly match the vocational certificates of the State Employment Service. 
• It had a demanding "mass" vocation, with 400 potential participants in a short and demanding process in terms of tutorials, exams, etc.

The project was well received from the beginning. Of the almost 600 applicants, 404 people were finally admitted and only 6.2% of the students dropped out of the experience. Of those who successfully completed, 46% were women, who also made up 6 of the top 10. The students gave this experience an average score of more than 9.3 points (out of 10) and the average mark achieved by the students was more than 9.1 (out of 10). The success was such that the Basque Employment Service and the VASS Foundation had to make an extra effort to ensure that 200 people (and not the 100 planned) would finally take part in the second stage.

Re-skilling is possible, even more so with imaginative formulas! At VASS UNIVERSITY we have full confidence in the prestigious American school BOTTEGA, accredited by the American Council on Education and with university status, which has trained more than 40,000 professionals and has participated in ambitious professional re-skilling programmes with the US Federal Government and with leading multinationals such as AMAZON.