17 March 2021
Codeland AEM Academy
Growing new good AEM developers is not an easy task and onboarding new resources always requires very long trainings and learn by doing.
Starting from January 2021 CodeLand has launched a new program called “CodeLand AEM Academy“. The Academy defines a full learning path, from basic to advanced topics related to AEM development, architectures and soft skills: all things that are usually required in CodeLand design and development every day.
The Academy is based on 3 months itensive training, with realtime live sessions every day delivered by our experts. A big effort to ensure a dedicated and tailored support, where theory and hands on development are continuosly merged.
First edition started at the beginning of January and now it is approaching its conclusion. The team is composed by 6 “AEM developers to-be”. Interesting to note: 3 are Italian while 3 others are IT Engineers from Rwanda. The multi-cultural approach is another added value, with all lessons given in English and group work done on a daily basis.
Results are very encouraging. Feedbacks from the attendees are very good, as well as the results in terms of know how and ability to perform. New rounds for the Academy are expected, up to 3 editions every year to onboard from 8 to 10 new resources.
Team during the training
Participation of Rwanda developers is another important point and success for this initiative, demonstrating the possibility for good level of collaboration and sharing know how, tech skills and opportunities even with countries that are not considered “top choices in terms of IT resources”. A path that started long time ago thanks to our internal Chief Learning Officer, Stefano Scotti. It’s a pleasure to leave the conclusion of this article to Stefano to give more information about this initiative, for which CodeLand is proud to give some contribution.
Team during the training
Chief Operating Officer of CodeLand
It was a pleasure to organize and run the Academy giving it an international dimension. We have not given ourselves any kind of closure or limits trying to look at the perspective of greater sustainability of our business. We know well the Italian, European and Asian markets, with which we have always carried out our software developments, the two major current off-shore software development teams of CodeLand , are located in Tenerife and Bangalore. We made an innovative choice linked to our history. Since the early 2000s we have followed ICT in East Africa, collaborating and installing IT laboratories and Internet connections, as part of Cooperation and Development projects and training as well students with distance learning programs. It all started in 2003 in Rwanda, which in those years was proposed as an ICT hub in that region, this has allowed us to gain contacts and experience on site.
November 2003, Eric Umuhoza is taking note while accessing the e-learnign platform ColforRwanda made by DotLand (the former CodeLand)
I spent 3 unforgettable years of my life in this beautiful country, characterized by a hard past, fortunately not more recent, which allows the last generations to face the future with an agile and positive spirit. In 2019, therefore, we started from this experience, re-establishing some contacts in particular with PhD Eric Umuhoza, who, thanks to the projects established in the early 2000s, was able to study at the Milan Polytechnic and graduate in Computer Science and with the NGO MLFM of Lodi, present in Rwanda for over 40 years, which has always supported projects fighting the Digital Divide in this African region.
January 2006, Student of Polimi Piergiorgio La Sala, Marco Re and Stefano Scotti during the testing of VSAT Internet Connection at Birava in the Democratic Republic of Congo (South Kivu)
With Eric now teaching Data Bases at Carnagie Mellon University in Kigali we had quick access to junior and medium level developers in the FE and BE fields. The recent pandemic period has created favorable conditions for our establishment in the Rwandan labor market, thanks to the strong spread of Smart Working, and the reorganization of various digital marketing players, allowing us on the one hand to find opportunities and on the other to give professional continuity to all these people. Over the last year we have built a team of 4 very competent people, attentive to specifications and with a great desire to grow and learn. Motivations are not lacking, on the one hand the Rwandan team learns a new technology that of AEM has not yet spread and on the other hand we are also able to provide very competitive salaries on the local market.
For CodeLand, the opportunity is to broaden the pool of developers, respond to requests and lower costs, creating a multicultural and international work team suitable for our market. Speaking at the end of goals and dreams at this point we see for CodeLand a goal to grow and try to have an increasingly broad base in East Africa and my side a secret dream of bringing my family back for a few years. in the Thousand Hills country.
