Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Commerce Dept. (DOC) is partnering with online learning platform Coursera in launching its first-ever ASG CARES Act Workforce Development IT Program to aid and support professional development in American Samoa.

In a press release issued this week under the leadership of Director Petti Matila, DOC announced the new IT training opportunity for the ASG workforce.

Importantly, the Google IT Support Professional Certificate Course offered through Coursera will guarantee university-accredited and professional certifications. These courses will allow the public to excel in various IT areas to provide the proper skills, resources, and experiences for American Samoa to navigate an era of evolving technology.

Acting Governor Talauega Ale commended Director Matila for her leadership and for providing this service. “The future of the American Samoa Government workforce will depend on how well our employees will be able to adapt to new technologies. The services provided by Director Petti and the Department of Commerce is a step forward for preparing the ASG workforce for this transition,” stated Talauega.

“Allowing our people to participate in these opportunities will help improve the quality of IT professionals, which in turn will improve the quality of service. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that a strong IT backbone is needed government-wide. We need more professionals in this field,” he concluded.

Director Petti hosted a Live Webinar with the Coursera team on Wednesday, August 4th, at 10:00a.m that discussed the program and the process of enrolling.

BACKGROUND

Coursera is an online learning platform offering self-paced guided projects and on-demand courses on a variety of subjects, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The platform partners with universities and companies, including Amazon Web Services, Google and IBM, to provide courses. In addition to completing individual courses, users can receive professional certificates and bachelor’s or master’s degrees online through the platform.

The platform offers Coursera for Government and Coursera for Campus plans as well and is based in Mountain View, California.

Coursera is one of the top online learning platforms, with thousands of courses from schools like Yale and companies like Google, according to Business Insider.

(Sources: DOC, U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider online)