Many wise people throughout the ages have shared inspiring insights about the value of collaboration. One favorite is Henry Ford, who said: “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” In the context of empowering the next generation of infrastructure leaders, working together enables us to empower more young people, to address the full ecosystem of skills needed for success, and to provide exposure to real-world challenges and opportunities within the data center industry.
Collaboration enables us to empower more young people.
Collaboration is one of the cornerstones of our new Education initiative. We’re humbled and proud to be working alongside new partners, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award USA Program (Award USA) and Hello World, as well as our longtime partner Infrastructure Masons (iMasons), to empower more young people.
As an internationally recognized program for young people that builds their skills to equip them for life and work, Award USA has established relationships with a broad range of schools and communities – allowing us to reach more students. As a STEM-focused curriculum and education platform, Hello World is enabling us to reach more students more efficiently. With hundreds of representative companies and thousands of members focused on digital infrastructure, iMasons will provide more students with hands-on learning opportunities, internships, access to industry leaders as guest speakers, and experience with top-tier equipment.
“It would be easy to feel overwhelmed by the worsening talent shortage in the data center industry. But I feel hopeful, because I see the power of collaboration to increase the reach and impact of every individual effort.” – Angela Capon, VP of Marketing – EdgeConneX
EdgeConneX is the first data center provider to partner with The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award USA. Integrating our digital infrastructure expertise into their globally recognized framework, the Education initiative will provide young participants with hands-on learning, mentorship, and exposure to real-world challenges and opportunities within the data center industry. Traditionally, data center education programs have focused on engineering, operations, or technology in isolation. In contrast, as part of the EdgeConneX Education initiative, we are building is a multi-faceted program that addresses the full ecosystem of skills needed – technical expertise of course, as well as leadership, finance, and sustainability. We’re building a pipeline of future-ready professionals who understand not just the technology, but also the responsibility that comes with building and operating the foundation of the digital economy.
Collaboration enables us to address the full ecosystem of skills needed for success in the data center industry.
Sustainability modules in the new initiative will teach students how to reduce their environmental footprint through energy efficiency, renewable energy, and innovative design strategies (especially critical as AI drives massive increases in demand). Community modules will impart the “be a good neighbor” ethos to students, who will learn the importance of giving back and embracing a global mindset.
“Digital infrastructure must evolve responsibly. A key component of education, then, has to be ensuring future leaders understand the importance of sustainable development and operations, and the importance of community engagement. We must teach future leaders not only how to build and run data centers but also how to positively impact the communities where we operate and the planet we must fiercely protect.” – Phillip Marangella, Chief Product and Marketing Officer – EdgeConneX
Collaboration enables hands-on learning, mentorship, and exposure to real-world challenges and opportunities within the data center industry.
The Hello World curriculum leverages AI and VR to deliver immersive, project-based STEM experiences that spark curiosity, creativity, and real-world problem solving. Designed for students from 1st through 12th grade, the program builds a continuous pathway in computer science and AI literacy, preparing students for the most influential and transformative roles in society.
“It’s incredibly fulfilling to help create educational pathways for young people, providing them with the skills and confidence to thrive in the AI and tech sectors. Our partnership with Hello World lights a spark in these youth and can open up new opportunities for their futures.” – Vanessa Eixman, Sr. Director Communications – EdgeConneX
In addition, our expanded partnership with iMasons enables the extension of the Education initiative to additional data center providers, cloud and AI organizations, and infrastructure providers – all of whom can provide mentorships, internships, and other types of real-world learning, in addition to career pathways. Students learn so much more when working inside a data center versus sitting in a classroom. Hands-on experience helps students not only gain technical expertise, but also develop the critical soft skills (problem-solving, leadership, teamwork) so essential for success in this fast-paced industry.
Bottom line: Moving forward together, we’re empowering the next generation of infrastructure leaders with the skills needed to drive meaningful change – for themselves, their communities, and the world.